Saturday, December 17, 2011

The BSC: Manual

http://bhobrainey.bandcamp.com/album/manual



















Note: There are 100 hardcovers available at the paperback price ($20 for book and music). A good chunk of these are already claimed with pre-orders. Once they're gone, they're gone.

Music by the BSC (with Pauline Oliveros)
Book edited by Bhob Rainey with contributions from Damon Krukowski, Aaron P. Tate, Ben Hall, and Mike Bullock
3 tracks, 65’30″
Hardcover and Paperback with Lossless Download (CD-r available on request): 5.8125″ x 8.25″, 112 pages
Published by NO Books

Manual is a combination full-length album and book focusing on the music and improvisational practice of the BSC, an eight-member electroacoustic ensemble formed by saxophonist and composer Bhob Rainey in 2000. More than just music with copious liner notes, Manual examines the process of improvisation from both within and outside the BSC, encountering topics ranging from genealogy to architecture, the boundaries of sense to the benefits of failure, flows of energy to bouts of guilt. The intersection and unfolding of ideas is often complex, but the writing in Manual is earthy and comprehensible, keeping jargon to a minimum without sacrificing the depth of the subject matter. Manual is not a monument to the BSC but rather an appreciation of improvisation from the perspective of an especially prolific community.

The music portion of Manual consists of three extended improvisations covering a six-year period in the BSC’s history. The most recent piece, a vividly captured concert highlighting some of the more elegant aspects of the BSC’s unique musical lexicon, was recorded in 2009 and includes renowned composer Pauline Oliveros on accordion. The earliest piece was recorded in November 2003 at the end of The BSC’s only extended tour and contains some of the noisiest, most unhinged work the ensemble has ever released. 2007′s “23% Bicycle and/or Ribbons of the Natural Order”, recorded in Somerville, MA, provides a balance between the other two tracks, illustrating the BSC’s strong formal control amidst chaotic conflagrations of feedback, tape degeneration, and general instrumental instability. Stage plots and recording notes are included for each track.

The book portion of Manual contains contributions from five writers. Bhob Rainey (director and founder of the BSC) provides an introduction in which he engages with the book’s other contributors while reflecting on failure, adaptable dispositions, and the upside to being oblique. Damon Krukowski (musician, poet, half of Damon & Naomi, one-third of Galaxie 500, and one-fourth of Magic Hour) contributes a series of prose poems aimed at evoking certain effects the BSC’s music has on him. Aaron P. Tate (classicist at Cornell University whose areas include ancient and contemporary improvisation), through extensive research and interviews, pieces together and examines the BSC’s early history and rehearsal practices. Tate uses this information, along with recorded documentation, to approach the music with great insight from a dynamic, open-ended perspective. Ben Hall (percussionist, gospel archivist, and restaurateur) unravels ideas about genealogy, community, politics, and authority as they present themselves in the tradition from which the BSC emerges. And Mike Bullock (audio/visual artist and bassist for the BSC) develops two metaphors for evaluating music like that of the BSC, applying these metaphors to an analysis of the 2009 performance with Pauline Oliveros featured in this release.

Bhob Rainey: soprano saxophone, director
Mike Bullock: contrabass, amplification
James Coleman: theremin
Chris Cooper: guitar and electronics
Greg Kelley: trumpet
Vic Rawlings: amplified / prepared cello, open circuit electronics
Howard Stelzer: tapes
Liz Tonne: voice

Pauline Oliveros plays accordion on Track 1.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Greg Kelley/Olivia Block: Resolution CD (Erstwhile)



Greg Kelley: trumpet
Olivia Block: electronics, piano

Pinholed and perpetual light, part 1 (11:08)
Looking through bone (9:28)
How much radiance can you stand? (8:06)
Some old slapstick routine (8:24)
Pinholed and perpetual light, part 2 (9:05)

This CD is out now on Erstwhile Records and available via all your favorite distributors of recorded music, including Mimaroglu Music Sales who had these kind words to say about it and from whom I stole the above scans (thanks!):

november 2011 release ; ... long in the works (i remember dropping greg off at olivia’s place in chicagoaround the time of the first neon marshmallow fest way back whencollaborative work between musique concrète composer olivia block & trumpeter / composer / connoisseur greg kelley ...

... largely involving olivia’s prepared piano crackle & greg’s metal tube-resonance air-movement this relates to similarly-aligned through-composed sub-aquatic piano renderings (such as g*park’s “one hour as bernel & hofmann”) while keeping a leg in the purely improvised-music sphere ... the results are incredibly richdense,multi-layered, and as complex & rewarding as you can possibly imagine ...

one of my favorite discs of the year thusfar & a perfect complement to the style / sound / conceptualframework of lambkin & lescalleet’s discs for the label highly recommended !!!

Thursday, December 1, 2011

CHICAGO

I will be in Chicago tomorrow night, Friday December 2, 2011, and Saturday December 3, 2011.

On Friday, Olivia Block and I will be recording at WNUR. This will be broadcast on Saturday at 4pm. http://airplay.wnur.org/?p=1799

On Saturday, I will be performing a new piece, Soft Delete/Purgative Dryness for amplified trumpet and pre-recorded electronics as part of the Lampo series at the Graham Foundationhttp://gregkelley.eventbrite.com/ 

The solo show will be streaming live (8pm CST) via http://numbers.fm/


Sunday, October 2, 2011

Upcoming shows

Oct. 10 [Mon], Weirdo Records, Cambridge MA 8pm
Duo with Luke Moldof

Oct 16 [Sun], Homegrown Fest III, Villa Victoria, Boston (South End) MA 5:05pm
Quartet with Bill Nace, Ryan McGuire & Curt Newton
also Major Stars, Blues Control, Noise Nomads, Taps, Rotten Apples, Cave Bears, and many many more
~The quartet plays from 5:05pm to 5:25pm~
http://www.homegrownfestboston.com/

Oct 27-29 [Thu-Sat], The Kitchen, NYC NY 8pm
Anna Sperber: FOREVERANDADAY
Dance piece with music by Nate Wooley with Peter Evans & me
December 3 [Sat], The Graham Foundation, Madlener House, Chicago IL 8pm
Solo "Soft Delete/Purgative Dryness"
FREE Reservations required; RSVP info soon.

Reading

Reading:
Dan Fante: 86'd (Harper Collins)
Steve Martin: An Object of Beauty (Grand Central)
Ken Bruen: The Devil (Minotaur)
Michael Connelly: 9 Dragons (Vision)
Charles Willeford: The Burnt Orange Heresy (Black Lizard)
Brendan Brazier: Thrive: The Vegan Nutrition Guide to Optimal Performance in Sports and Life (Da Capo)
John Joseph: Meat is for Pussies (Crush)
Malcolm Lowry: Under The Volcano (Picador)
Ernst Jünger: The Glass Bees (NYRB)

Sunday, May 29, 2011

June 2011 Shows

I.

9pm Friday June 3, 2011

CARVER AUDAIN (NYC)
Acousmatic computer music from Brooklyn

TYLER WILCOX/ANDY HAYLECK/PAUL NEIDHARDT/GREG KELLEY
(Seattle/Baltimore/Somerville)
Sop sax, amplified gong+wire, percussion and trumpet 

ANDY HAYLECK (Baltimore)
amplified gong+wire

@ Whitehaus
Jamaica Plain, MA

II.

9pm Sunday June 12, 2011

BORBETOMAGUS

HEATHEN SHAME

DUCK THAT!

PEACE, LOVING

@ O'Brien's
Allston, MA

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

May 2011 Shows

5/6/11 [Fri] PAs Lounge, Somerville MA
Duo with Bill Nace*
also Major Stars, Vile Bodies
* Bill Nace had to cancel due to illness, so Jason Lescalleet filled in. The duo with Bill will be rescheduled and special thanks to Jason for filling in on hours notice.

5/16/11 [Mon] Charlie's Kitchen, Cambridge MA
Heathen Shame
also Life Partners, Bugs & Rats, Mary Staubitz/Vic Rawlings

05/20/11 [Fri] The Whitehaus, Jamaica Plain MA
Solo
also Horaflora (SF), White Limo (Chris Cooper/Jess Goddard/Josh Vrysen), Brian S. Ellis

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Ordinary Fanfares 2001

10 years ago, I had a short-lived radio show on WMFO, 91.5 FM, Medford MA (Tufts University). With no streaming and a pretty low bandwidth, here's what no one heard...

ordinary fanfares playlist #1 - february 20, 2001 
wmfo 91.5fm, medford massachussetts

1. kent tankred: ps 3 [ordinary things CD - fylkingen]
2. linda perhacs: parallelograms [parallelograms CD - the wild places]
3. the shadow ring: the wallet of wasps [the music of the shadow ring 7" - dry leaf discs]
4. ghedalia tazartes: part 2 [une eclipse totale de soleil CD - alga marghen]
5. black dice: track b1 [10" - troubleman unlimited]
6. angry hate: blinking blue lights [7"]
7. muddy waters: she's alright [electric mud CD - chess]
8. loren boyer: au peche mignon [des parasites risquent de se produire CD - intransitive]
9. jason lescalleet: part 1 [another example of parkinson's law 7" - freedom from]
10. sunn o))): richard [00 void CD - hh noise industries]
11. bhob rainey: part 2 [6 standing desert LP - fringes]
12. the frogs: the longing goes away [hopscotch lollipop sunday surprise CD - scratchie]
13. walter marchetti: coma vigile [antibarbarus CD - alga marghen]
14. heimir björgulfsson: track 2 [discreet journey digitalis CD - ritornell]
15. steve martin: funny comedy gags & closing [let's get small LP - warner bros.]
16. per svensson: cosmic trip circle & dirt [energy loop/element II CD - firework edition]

ordinary fanfares playlist #2 - march 20, 2001 
wmfo 91.5fm, medford massachussetts // www.wmfo.org

1. the beach boys: the night was so young [love you CD - capitol]
2. david behrman: runthrough [wave train CD - alga marghen]
3. vashti bunyan: diamond day [just another diamond day CD - spinney]
4. coyle & sharpe: three-ism [audio visionaries CD - thirsty ear]
5. the bill dixon orchestra: metamorphosis 1962-1966 [intents and purposes LP - rca victor]
6. kevin drumm: organ [comedy CD - moikai]
7. john frusciante: the first season [to record only water for ten days CD - warner bros.]
8. brion gysin: b [the pool k iii CD - alga marghen]
9. franz hautzinger: w.m. [gomberg CD - grob]
10. mauricio kagel: hallelujah [hallelujah LP - deutsche grammophon]
11. philus: koentsyymi/tutkat [tetra CD - sahko]
12. don rickles: some good friends [speaks LP - warner bros.]

ordinary fanfares playlist #3 - april 3, 2001 
wmfo 91.5fm, medford massachussetts // www.wmfo.org

1. neil hamburger: the x-rated hot dog vendor [america's funnyman CD - drag city]
2. dark noerd: smokin' husks [gummo soundtrack CD - innerstate/london]
3. sun ra: the wind speaks [my brother the wind volume 2 CD - evidence]
4. stephen p. mcgreevy: 3, 4, 5 [auroral chorus ii: music of the magnetosphere CD]
5. bruce haack: program me/chant of the unicorn [hush little robot CD - q.d.k. media]
6. wolf eyes: black rows [wolf eyes CD - bulb]
7. burzum: burzum [filosofem CD - misanthropy records]
8. atsuhiro ito: voltage [atsuhiro ito CD-R - omega point]
9. augst/carl/korn: polke [blank CD - fmp]
10. george perkins and the silver stars: crying in the streets [down & out: the sad soul of the black south CD - trikont]
11. iggy pop & james williamson: sell your love [kill city CD - bomp!]
12. mats gustafsson: success in dromme ii [the education of lars jerry CD - xeric]
13. fennesz: 010 [plus forty seven degrees 56'37" minus sixteen degrees 51'08" CD - mego]
14. robert ashley: she was a visitor [automatic writing CD - lovely]
15. jpt scare band: king rat [sleeping sickness CD - monster records]
16. ol' dirty bastard: i can't wait (acappella) [got your money CD-single - elektra]
17. willem breuker: continuous c sharp [lunch concert for three barrel organs LP - icp]
18. bernard parmegiani: et apres.. [pop eclectic CD - plate lunch]
19. muller/sugimoto: snow pocket [i am happy if you are happy CD - for4ears]

ordinary fanfares playlist #4 - april 17, 2001 
wmfo 91.5fm, medford massachussetts // www.wmfo.org

1. clark-hutchinson: improvisation on a modal scale [a=mh2 CD - repertoire]
2. afrika bambaataa: looking for the perfect beat [looking for the perfect beat 1980-1985 CD - tommy boy]
3. brainbombs: anne frank [singles CD - load]
4. yoshimitsu ichiraku: machine headz [the music of surround panner CD - zero gravity]
5. sven-ake johansson: rasche achtel [six little pieces for quintet CD - hatOLOGY]
6. bethlehem: schatten aus der alexander welt [dictius te necare CD - red stream]
7. hasil adkins: i need your head (...this ain't no rock & roll show) [out to hunch LP - norton]
8. mark bain: skowhegan bridge [vibronics 3" CD - staalplaat]
9. fushitsusha: thought it went so well? [a death never to be complete CD - tokuma]
10. sandro gorli: requiem (ensemble vocal europeen de la chapelle royale/philippe herreweghe) [gesualdo/gorli CD - harmonia mundi]
11. hawd gankstuh rappuhs mc's wid ghatz: mind if i fart? [2hype 2wype CD - wordsound]
12. rodney dangerfield: no respect [no respect LP - casablanca]

Thursday, March 3, 2011

Nmperign/Lescalleet: Texas

3/4/11 [Fri] Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas TX 7:30pm
Nmperign with Jason Lescalleet
also Shawn David McMillen, Zanzibar Snails
 
3/5/11 [Sat] The Up Gallery at Starving Art Studios, Austin TX 8pm
Nmperign with Jason Lescalleet
also Vanessa Rossetto, Shawn McMillen's Mancat House Band (C. Cunningham & J. Ronsen)

3/6/11 [Sun] labotanica, Houston TX 8pm
Nmperign with Jason Lescalleet
 
3/7/11 [Mon] Avant Garden, Houston TX 7pm (must be over by 9pm)
Greg Kelley, Bhob Rainey, Jason Lescalleet and guests

Monday, February 14, 2011

Upcoming Shows

2/25/11 [Fri] Cyclorama/BCA, Boston MA 10pm
Solo with Eli Keszler "Cold Pin" installation
Quintet with Eli Keszler, Ashley Paul, Geoff Mullen & Reuben Son with Eli Keszler 
"Cold Pin" installation
"large scale 14 string motorized and activated installation. strings range from 
3 1/2 feet to 25 feet in length----"

3/4/11 [Fri] Oak Cliff Cultural Center, Dallas TX
Nmperign with Jason Lescalleet
also Shawn David McMillen, Zanzibar Snails

3/6/11 [Sun] labotanica, Houston TX
Nmperign with Jason Lescalleet

3/12/11 [Sat] Third Life Studio, Somerville MA
the undr quartet
also Sean Meehan solo, Liz Tonne/Tim Feeney

3/25/11 [Fri] Eisenberg Loft, Boston MA
Trio with Wally Shoup & Chris Corsano
also Skinny Vinny, Eli Keszler & Ashley Paul, DJ Wayne Rogers

3/26/11 [Sat] Flywheel, Northampton MA
Quartet with Wally Shoup, Chris Corsano & Thurston Moore
also Nace/Flaherty, tba

4/2/11 [Sat] Third Life Studio, Somerville MA
We Love You Greg Kelley (Gross/Hanson/Bullock + me)
also David Kendall, Straus/Dijkstra/Leonard w/ EMMI robotic instruments, Landis/Schoster

Recent

Reading:
John Banville: The Sea (Vintage)
Pete Dexter: Train (Vintage)
Mike Richardson & Rick Geary: Cravan: Mystery Man of the Twentieth Century (Dark Horse)
Knut Hamsun: Victoria (Picador)

Listening:
Drudkh: Autumn Aurora (Season of Mist)
Sun Kil Moon: Admiral Fell Promises (Caldo Verde)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Recent



Reading:
Pierre Guyotat: Coma (Semiotext(e))
Paul Auster: Invisible (Picador)
Charlie Huston: A Dangerous Man (Ballantine)
Charlie Huston: Six Bad Things (Ballantine)Charlie Huston: Caught Stealing (Ballantine)
Denys Turner: The Darkness of God: Negativity in Christian Mysticism (Cambridge)
Denis Johnson: Rescuscitation of a Hanged Man (Perrenial)
Joe Boyd: White Bicycles: Making Music in the 1960s (Serpent's Tail)
Dave Zeltserman: Pariah (Serpent's Tail)

Listening:
Akitsa: Au Crépuscule De L'espérance (Hospital)
Fleetwood Mac: Mirage (Warner Bros.)
Heinrich von Meissen: Frauenlob [perf. Sequentia] (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi)

New (and not so new) Releases

I'm on some tracks on the following releases. Alpha/Omega is from earlier 2010, but the other two are relatively new.

The Tenses: Cosmic Dust CDr (NEUREC)

Ehnahre: Taming the Cannibals CD (Crucial Blast)

Ehnahre: Alpha/Omega LP (Fun With Asbestos)