[ dec 29, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle at the Berkeley Arts Festival
More slightly odd music. Tackled the early parts of the New Monsters book at a festival that appears to be ceaseless, infinite, nearly, oh, how do you say acquisitive in its creative alignments, wherein if you happen to be walking by, singing, like, you know, a song you may well be caught in the gravitational pull of the Berkeley Arts Festival. That’s just my feeling. Played at the top of University Avenue (2133) right next to Ace Hardware, Berkeley.
[ audio | imagery ]
[ dec 10, 2011 ]
Droneshift
Droneshift is a large scale collaborative music event organized by Matt Davignon. Over 40 musicians gathered to contribute to a continuous three-hour sound, each adding their acoustic or electronic elements, weaving their sounds together, or truly intending to, to create gradually shifting tapestries of music. At The Lab in San Francisco.
[ audio | imagery ]
[ dec 8-9, 2011 ]
The Reverend Screaming Fingers Big Band [thanks for supporting this work at Kickstarter]
Lucio Menegon’s large ensemble reassembled on the East Coast to perform Volume 2 of Music for Driving and Film with with John Hanes, Wil Hendricks, Rob Price and filmmaker Alfonso Alvarez. At Brooklyn Fire Proof on the 8th and Exapno on the 9th, both in Brooklyn.
[ dec 4, 2011 ]
The Mutts
Reunion of the barkalicious trio of Michael Wertz (vocals, bookmaker), Andy Cowitt (ukulele) and me (toy drum kit) at the opening reception for Michael’s Dog Dreams at the Oakland Museum of California.
[ audio | video | imagery ]
[ dec 2-3-4, 2011 ]
The Line Between [ supported at USArtists ]
Premiere of Inkboat’s new performance work The Line Between, co-composed with Jason Ditzian as part of a collaboration of artists directed by Inkboat’s Dana Iova-Koga and featuring Shinichi Ioga-Kova, Dohee Lee and Peiling Kao with installation by Amy Rathbone and Frank Lee and lights and shadow design by Allen Willner. At ODC Theater in San Francisco.
[ dec 2, 2011 ]
RecardiacsFly
Flying like the wind from Inkboat’s show at ODC to play xylophone with what-was-meant-to-be-a-one-off cover band that couldn’t turn away from its love affair with the Cardiacs. We (Chris Broderick, Amar Chaudhary, Marc Laspina, Polly Moller, Moe! Staiano, and Tim Walters) convened with Tim Smith Benefit billmates Dominique Leone and the Wiener Kids in a deranged, art-pop spectacular. At the Starry Plough in Berkeley.
[ video ]
[ nov 18, 2011 ]
Dandelion Dancetheater
Radical Inclusion: Conversations at the Intersection of Art, Spiritual Practice and Social Activism
Playing kit and kitchen with Bandelion as part of this evening benefiting Dandelion’s 2013 appearance in Edinburgh. The evening featured a conversation between Eric Kupers and Joe Goode, performance by Dandelion Dancetheater with Frank Shawl and dancing to live music by Bandelion at the Berkeley Hillside Club. Amazingly, I was able to set up the drums in the fireplace (which was not actually featuring a fire, thankfully). Resonant.
[ nov 5, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle at the Berkeley Arts Festival
Slightly odd music. The ordinary themes that we hum while walking along, which come from the air and the ground of some everywhere that is El Cerrito, California, played at the top of University Avenue right next to Ace Hardware, Berkeley.
[ audio ]
[ oct 29, 2011 ]
She Mob at the 10th Annual Murder Ballads
That’s right, She Mob. Reconstituted by Karry Walker, the all-she She Mob drowned in its own emesis, but not before switching instruments between every song. With Joy (Sue Hutchinson) and Lisa McElroy, plus a cast of one million musicians singing songs of misery and despair at The Starry Plough. My costume was to dress as the reviled Black Bloc, which effectively made me disappear on stage, so I’d have to say it was really more of a Mummenschanz thing. So typical of me.
[ video ]
[ oct 19, 2011 ]
ubRadio Salon on dfm.nu
All mallets from the basement studio of Big City Orchestra.
[ audio | video ]
[ oct 13, 2011 ]
Moe!kestra Piece No. 7: End of an Error
Playing two floor toms in Moe! Staiano’s large ensemble, which returned to the Luggage Store Gallery after a brutal hiatus during which Moe! made noises about shutting the Moe!kestra down for good.
[ oct 7, 2011 ]
The Reverend Screaming Fingers Big Band [support this work at Kickstarter]
Lucio Menegon’s large ensemble performed Volume 2 of Music for Driving and Film with with John Hanes, Wil Hendricks, Nils Erickson and filmmakers Alfonso Alvarez and Thad Povey at Brick and Mortar Music Hall.
[ sep 21, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle / Dandelion Dancetheater
Drummed, and stopped to think, in the proto-monthly convening of ensembles led by Dan Plonsey and Eric Kupers who collaborated to create the 2010 Dan Plonsey’s Bar Mitzvah. The musicians and dancers and dancer-musicians and musician-dancers of Daniel Popsicle and D(B)andelion exploded new work at the Subterranean Art House in Berkeley, something I am almost ready to talk about, but included a hand emerging from the floor holding a music stand, an argument intended to be “real” which might have been… “real,” Michael Zelner’s childhood friend looking at us in horror, and a heart-breaking duet of Mantra Plonsey and Lynn Murdock that made me remember to ready for beauty in every single situation. Every single one.
[ sep 11, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle at the Webster Street Jam
The last time I played in the Popsicle at the Webster Street Jam it was still called the Peanut Butter Jam in honor of Skippy Peanut Butter invented, you guessed it, in Alameda. Dan wrote a lengthy biography for that gig. Turns out a professional announcer would read it word-for-word as we sat, awe-struck, waiting to play. I remember the word “Saturn” mentioned more than once, and that little silence after the introduction was finished where we looked at eachother as if getting that guy to do that thing was performance enough, and maybe we should break down and go home. Later, a near-by shopkeeper ran out his front door screaming “That’s not music!” during Dan’s oboe solo.
[ audio ]
[ aug 31, 2011 ]
Tiny Owl
Giant bass drum and tiny piccolo snare in the electro-acoustic quartet blending non-idiomatic improvisation with non-non-idiomatic improvisation [Lance Grabmiller, Matt Davignon and Sebastian Krawczuk]. Shared the evening with Key West and Charm and Strange (Julia Mazawa + Sharkiface) at Mama Buzz Cafe in Oakland.
[ imagery | audio ]
[ aug 17, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle, Jeffrey Young & Paul Pinto [ThingNY] and DreamZoo
A night of banter-based musical performance and opera-in-progress originally thought to be presented by Daniel Popsicle, Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young. However, Paul learned he had to cancel due to a family obligation back East, so Jeffrey offered to perform a solo set or, if possible, appear in Valerie Kuehne’s Dream Zoo, which would have implicated Lucio Menegon, who had asked for the night off and Sean Ali, who had to be flown out from New York. Of course, I said, we’ll make it a Jeff Sandwich and compel him to play in all three bands because my guess was he kinda sorta knew how to read down the page. At the last minute, Paul’s East Coast obligation got shifted so it was again possible to present Jeff Young and Paul Pinto, Patriots, Run for Public Office on a Platform of Swift and Righteous Immigration Reform, Lots of Jobs, and a Healthy Environment: an Opera by Paul Pinto and Jeffry Young. Which we did and the people were transformed. Daniel Popsicle hosted, playing interstitial banter from disembodied recordings that completely confused the audience, especially when John Schott started bantering over it. Many early Daniel Popsicle pieces were revived in this performance, but since the music was never written for drum kit and I missed the only rehearsal Dan suggested perhaps I lay out. I tried. Then I started reading over John Shiurba’s shoulder and thought If I were a gamelan band, how would I be playing right now? Afterward, Dan mentioned he thought the drums actually worked pretty well. There you have it.
It all took place at the Subterranean Art House in Berkeley.
[ imagery | audio ]
[ aug 16, 2011 ]
Strangelet and Brale.co
On Jurassic electronics creating that hot, large lump with Lucio Menegon‘s Strangelet [with Valerie Kuehne, Paul Pinto, Jeffrey Young, Michael Zelner, and films by Alfonso Alvarez], splitting sets with Brale.co [Bruce Anderson, Dale Sophiea, Nico Sophiea and Gregory Hagan with films by Lorin Murphy]. At Artists Television Access in San Francisco
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[ aug 15, 2011 ]
microDecibel at Nebraska Mondays
Playing intensely at low volume with Lucio Menegon at Ross Hammond’s Monday night series with Hammond/Berry/Garcia Trio and Paul Pinto / Jeffrey Young . At Luna Cafe in Sacramento.
[ imagery | audio ]
[ aug 8, 2011 ]
microDecibel at Bargain Basement
Played intensely at low volume with Lucio Menegon, Phillip Greenlief, John Shiurba, Kirby Dingle and Matthew Sperry’s Box of Implements at Josh Lindenfelzer’s new Monday night of eclectic obscurities with a rotating cast of guest DJs and bands, this time with Paul Pinto and Jeffrey Young of ThingNY and CyClub. Quite possibly the reincarnation of the Ivy Room Experimental Noise Improv Hootenanny. and Social Club. At Bottom of The Hill in San Francisco.
[imagery | audio ]
[ aug 7, 2011 ]
PLAYBACK > Battery Townsley with Edward Schocker
ME’DI.ATE Art Group’s series featuring performances by electroacoustic duo Date Palms with Trevor Montgomery & Michael Elrod, vocal dance ensemble M. Mara Ann’s Sugar Pine Tesla, and composer/sound artist Edward Schocker, who I joined along with Adam Fong and Tako Oda. At Fort Cronkhite (off Rodeo Beach), Marin Headlands
[ video | imagery ]
[ jul 27, 2011 ]
ubRadio Salon: The Noodles
Jurassic electronics with Michael Zelner in the found sound collage The Noodles from the backyard studio of Big City Orchestra
[ audio part one | part two ]
[ jul 20, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle vs. Dandelion Dancetheater
Drumming in the proto-monthly convening of ensembles led by Dan Plonsey and Eric Kupers who collaborated to create the 2010 Dan Plonsey’s Bar Mitzvah. The musicians and dancers and dancer-musicians and musician-dancers of Daniel Popsicle and D(B)andelion will explore new work at the Subterranean Art House in Berkeley. [read more]
[ jul 7, 2011 ]
Bandelion at SPACEcraft’s 2nd Birthday
Playing The TomWaitsacator with the band component of Dandelion Dancetheater, helping SPACEcraft party like a bunch of toddlers with paintings, prints, photography, sculpture, music and performance. Bandelion collides live music and live dance/theater culture, which is to say I am learning to drum and jump at the same time. At Cellspace in San Francisco.
[ jul 5, 2011 ]
I, Norton
Concert bass drum and bowed vibe in the American Guild of Organists Region IX Convention iteration of Gino Robair’s opera in real-time featuring organist David Hatt and Tom Duff as Emperor. This performance took place on a Tuesday afternoon (which, as you all know, is the new Sunday morning) at the Episcopal Church of St John the Evangelist in San Francisco, and it blew my mind. With Krys Bobrowski on GlissGlass (acoustic) and french horn, Kyle Bruckman on oboe and english horn, Tom Djll on trumpet and preps, Matthew Goodheart on piano with ebows, Matt Ingalls on clarinet, bass clarinet, and tube thingy and Polly Moller on bass flute, ocarinas and C-flute headjoint joining the Cardew Choir.
[ jun 23 & 26, 2011 ]
The Line Between at Fury Factory
Inkboat’s work-in-progress showings of the new piece slated for December 2011 at ODC (see currently). Jason Ditzian and I will be performing stripped-down versions of the score we’re composing for this piece (see below). At NOHSpace.
[ jun 10 – 16, 2011 ]
inkGround
In residency with Inkboat in Petrolia, California, composing and recording with Jason Ditzian.
[ jun 2, 2011 ]
Tiny Owl
Giant bass drum and tiny piccolo snare in the electro-acoustic quartet blending non-idiomatic improvisation with non-non-idiomatic improvisation [Lance Grabmiller, Matt Davignon and Sebastian Krawczuk]. Sharing the evening with Myrmyr at The Luggage Store.
[ may 19, 2011 ]
Bandelion at 8x8x8
Played drums in Bandelion, the band component of Dandelion Dance Theater in an evening of eight dance pieces presented by paufve | dance. The last time I did this I got to wear a dirndl dress and perform an inadvertent solo when the power went out. This time I got to wear a sparkly velvet tri-corner hippy renaissance hat that looked a little like an effective rodent trap from afar. F*ck yeah. At the Uptown in Oakland.
video excerpts
[may 18, 2011]
The Last Ivy Room Noise Improv Hootenanny & Social Club:
Last Katttenanny Standing
Kattt Atchley carried the Hoot off from it’s home at the Ivy Room with experimental films performed by Kerry Laitala, heavy metal jazz from Go-Go Fightmaster, and neo-fictional electronics by Kenneth Atchley. Kingman’s Ivy Room
imagery | audio
[ may 8, 2011 ]
ReCardiacFly at SF <3 Tim Smith
A benefit performance for Tim Smith, leader and founder of the UK band Cardiacs with Moe! Staiano and members of Reconnaisance Fly. Also on the bill Dominique Leone, Wiener Kids, Inner Ear Brigrade, Grex, and Amy X Neuburg at Cafe du Nord, San Francisco.
video
[ may 5 – 15, 2011 ]
Thingamajigs Performance Group
A trio with Dylan Bolles and Edward Schocker within the larger work entitled Moby Dick Variations, devised and directed by John Zibell. TPG played May 5th through the 7th, and Dylan played solo May 8th through the 15th. I’m particularly proud of this review because it was entitled Worst. Show. Ever.
[ apr 25, 2011 ]
Tiny Owl
Pressing Phillip Greenlief’s definition of “Monday Night Living Jazz Series” at The Ivy Room along with CJ Borosque (pedals, trumpet, saxophone) /Duncan Dobsen (turntables) and Key West over the internet airwaves at sfSound Radio. Listen to the archive here.
[ apr 20 – may 7, 2011 ]
Cordelia
I composed for Theatre of Yugen’s new work Cordelia by Erik Ehn, a re-envisioning of King Lear’s daughter within a Noh phantasmal warrior play. It’s part of Soulographie, a series of 16 plays on the history of America in the 20th Century from the point of view of genocides in the States (the Tulsa Race Riot), in East Africa (Rwanda, Uganda), and Central America (Guatemala, El Salvador). Score performed by Polly Moller (flutes, chanter) and Anna Wray (piccolo snare, sruti box).
[apr 20, 2011]
Daniel Popsicle at the Ivy Hoot
Drummed in Dan Plonsey’s large ensemble as it invaded the Ivy Room (for now) Noise Improv Hootenanny & Social Club with New Monsters music, special guests Randy McKean and Josh Smith, and interstitial DJing of classics and rareties by Sun Ra, Lee Scratch Perry, Charles Ives, Anthony Braxton and more
[ april 11-12, 2011 ]
Thingamajigs Performance Group
A trio with Dylan Bolles and Edward Schocker as part of Judy Halebsky’s new work Kahlo/Aoi: A Thread for a Nest at NohSpace in San Francisco. Also on the bill The Myth of Ten Thousand Things, a process-based collaboration between Dylan Bolles and Sasha Hom.
[ mar 31, 2011 ]
Big City Orchestra
A planned performance at the Luggage Store Gallery in San Francisco, part of Outsound Presents. Also on the bill: Noisepsalm.
imagery | audio
[ mar 23, 2011 ]
A Dazzling Display of Dogs (and songs by Andy Cowitt)
The launch party for the newest kids book by Betsy Franco and Michael Wertz at Diesel Books. The postcard I received (ohhhh! remember postcards?) promises, books, pens, refreshments and surprises, including me on toy drum kit joining Andy Cowitt and Michael to perform musical versions of Betsy’s concrete poems. Well come on!
youtube
[ mar 16, 2011 ]
Michiyukinanny: What A Stranger May Know
The Ivy Room Noise Improv Hootenanny & Social Club hosted a gathering of composers, musicians and actors to hear and perform works in progress for the Michiyuki :: Traveling Songs Project (www.ehnorchestra.org): 32 plays, 32 songs, 32 composers.
The entire project is called “What A Stranger May Know,” written by Erik Ehn and being directed by Dor Cosby Atkinson for a west coast premiere in Fall 2011.
[ mar 10, 2011 ]
Free Reed Vibrating Society
Part of Music in Motion: a series of explorations in sonic dimensionality curated by Bob Marsh with sound and movement by Laurie Amat, Cornelius Cardew Choir and the Free Reed Vibrating Society. Over 25 participants featuring voice, accordion, melodica, harmonica, and dance at the Luggage Store Gallery.
[ mar 8, 2011 ]
Tiny Owl
Shared sets with Daryl Shawn with vocalist Laurie Amat at Studio 1510 in West Oakland. It went something like this.
[ mar 4, 2011 ]
sfSoundWindow :: House of Zoka
Beginning at 12:00:01am and ending at 11:59:59pm, the sound of life’s rich pageant as heard live from the windows of a converted box factory in Oakland via the interwebs.
[ feb 8, 2011 ]
Daniel Popsicle at Oakland Active Orchestra
Playing from the New Monsters book (now up to 130 pieces) (!) on a pretty fabulous bill with the Jen Baker Group (Tony Dryer / Cory Wright / Jacob Felix Heule) and the Rob Ewing Group (Darren Johnston / Kasey Knudsen / Evan Francis / Henry Hung / Mike Abraham / Lisa Mezzacappa / Jon Arki). At the Uptown in Oakland.
[ feb 6, 2011 ]
I, Franzen
With Dean Santomieri and Michael Zelner live in the studio at KALX Berkeley with Carnacki
[ jan 22, 2011 ]
Thingamajigs Performance Group
With Dylan Bolles, Edward Schocker, Zachary Watkins and Keith Evans at the Meridian Music: Composers in Performance series at the Meridian Gallery in San Francisco.