In this segment from the Ostracon release show I have a watery portamento lead going while Graham is making some nice atemporal sounds with what he calls a “cow necklace” and other parts of his kit. The cow necklace is made made from cow hooves strung in a loop. I searched the web for a similar instrument but found nothing but disturbing images of animal parts. In any case it sounds great.
Watery Lead with Cow Necklace
Here’s an early live recording from Ostracon way back in September, 2009 that I thought would be interesting to share. We have come along way since then, but this documentation has a fragile, exploratory charm to it including hefty amounts of buzz and crackle from a bad cord.
The way I produced the recording was by putting my Sony PCM-50 near the drums, and then recording the Live set during the show. Afterward I put the drum track into the Live set and matched it up. The recorder started a little late, so it’s missing the first three minutes of drums, but there’s 34 more minutes with Graham’s spectacular drumming all over it. Enjoy!
On Saturday, June 4, 2011 from 9pm until midnight I will be performing with DKO (Davis, Keston, O’Brien) and DJ Luke Anderson at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts (MIA) for the Northern Spark Festival. Our experimental music will be live accompaniment for an amazing piece called the Battle of Everyouth (Jenny Schmid and Ali Momeni). Here’s a more detailed description of the piece.
The Battle of Everyouth is a projection-based performance which blends live cinema, participatory theater, music and live animation. A miniature set, the Circarama serves as a tiny stage for projections and stop motion animations, while wireless devices offer ways to engage with live theater and contribute to the resulting projection panorama on the facade of the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
DJ Luke Anderson joins the amazing trio, DKO, which features Jon Davis (Bass, Bass Clarinet), Graham O’Brien (percussion) and John Keston (Rhodes, Pro-One, electronics) for live experimental music on the steps of the MIA.
Students from Washburn High School are audience guides. This group has been studying youth and violence in their Art, Geography and Literature classes during the Spring, 2011 term. Their studies have included a mock United Nations focusing on child soldiers, the reading of graphic novels Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi and Maus by Art Spiegelman as well as discussions about artists that address controversies about borders, faith and security.
Artists Jenny Schmid and Ali Momeni are stationed at a “mixing station” which combines live video feeds from these numerous dispersed performance contexts. Jenny layers drawings and words over the input imagery, while Ali animates and manipulates the many visual elements of this project.
In preparation we have begun rehearsals to formulate musical strategies and create a vocabulary of ideas. Here’s a short segment from one of these rehearsals featuring Luke Anderson on electronics, Graham O’Brien on drums, and myself on GrainMachine with some Rhodes toward the end.
Battle of Everyouth Rehearsal Segment (Part 1)
DGK @ Try This 3 (Part 3)
DGK @ Try This 3 (Part 2)