MUSIC IN THE ANCHORAGE 1997
SONIC YOUTH is one of the world's most influential rock bands, and a testament to the ultimate worth of following a spiritual muse instead of just thinking about the next paycheck. Their dazzling cocktail of art, rock and pop ripped the rug out from under the feet of English hairboys and then broke their hearts. On record, they scorch, and in concert they stun. Prepare to be dazzled as they take center stage to headline the opening night of the Music in the Anchorage 97 series.
CHRISTIAN MARCLAY is a sound artist/turntable wizard who has experimented/composed/performed with phonograph records and turntables since 1979. He mixes a startling variety of records on multiple turntables, fragmenting and repeating sounds, altering speeds, playing records backwards, spinning, throwing, scratching and manipulating discs to create his magnificent "theater of found sound." A new album documenting his early recordings from the eighties is being released in June, and he will perform on the right stage.
IKUE MORI is a drum machine/sampler musician of the most radical and sublime order. She first gained notoriety in the 70s as the drummer in DNA, NYCÕs premier no-wave trio. Her recorded and live work as a solo artist and in duo, trio etc. has held audiences in awe with its improvisatory prowess. Mori will perform on the left stage.
THE THIRD EYE FOUNDATION is Matt Elliott (Movietone, Flying Saucer Attack), combining tape loops of guitar fuzz with drum and bass electronic percussion...the result is a sound both blissful and energetic. Pick any of the terms you want to describe what's being crossed over (drone, intelligent jungle, space rock, drum and bass) but consider it another gap filled. This is the American debut of The Third Eye Foundation and he will be performing on center stage.
KEVIN MARTIN and DJ VADIM present "THE BUG" Having reinterpreted Coppola's surveillance thriller, "The Conversation," The Bug's producer K-Mart (aka Ice/Sidewinder/Techno Animal/God-founder Kevin Martin) meets Ninja/Jazz Fudge Hip Hop explorer DJ Vadim for a stylistic meltdown and sonic congestion. DJ Vadim (Andre Gurov) is one of Europe's fastest-rising Hip-Hop DJs. The Bug aims to break both mind and body: the assassination of JFK accompanies Wu Tang beats, Roots rhythms mobilise demonic choirs, and white noise electronics obliterate astro jazz lines. The Bug deploys CDs, vinyl, electronics, fx, excessive bass and random sampling in an attempt to lose the plot.
TORTURE (aka The Skripper/Sensational) is a veteran of the Bush Camp and was the fourth Jungle Brother, appearing on their last album before setting forth on a solo career. His work has appeared on the compilations Electric Ladyland 3, Valis 2: Everything Must Go, and Subterranean Hitz, Vol 1. Torture's new album Loaded With Power is out in August.
VARNALINE is the potent mixture of varnish and gasoline; it is extremely flammable and not meant for inhalation. Varnaline features members of SPACE NEEDLE and the band mines the essence of rock, stripping down the music and developing it anew. Drawing on influences including old time blues and Neil Young, Varnaline are masters of the unconventional, the fuzzy...and the poignant.
RUN ON have been called "a great pop band in the most literal and errant sense of the world...eclectic, disturbing and irresistible." Crossing the lines that divide avant-rock from metal and rock, Run On makes albums suitable for framing.
S.A.N.D.I. (a collaboration of members of WINDSOR FOR THE DERBY and HOME). Celebrating the SK series of samplers, S.A.N.D.I. will debut a performance piece which triggers a variety of machines throughout the space so the music is continous, linked and unexpected.
VERNON REID is an artist who's work is forever in progress. From his formative years with Decoding Society, to his leadership of the pioneering Living Colour, to his collaborations with creative spirits ranging from guitarist Carlos Santana to choreographer Bill T. Jones, Reid's signature is a crafty and stylish blend of music.
PRAXIS....Transmutation features Buckethead, Bill Laswell, DJ Disk of The Invisible Scratch Pickles, DJ Soul Slinger, DXT, and X-Men. Beneath the darkly subsonic bass of producer Laswell, the extreme style of guiterrorist mutant virtuoso Buckethead, and the turntable voodoo of DJ Disk, DJ Soul Slinger and DXT, Praxis represents an inspiring, at times mesmerizing, and often harrowing foray into lethal territory. Group improvisation, musical breadth, and sheer sonic assault are all pushed to their outer limits.
NINJA TUNE STEALTH TOUR presents Funky Porcini, DJ Ollie Teeba of The Herbaliser, DJ Amon Tobin, and DJ Stevie Bear & DJ Task of Up Bustle & Out. Funki Porcini's music is a hedonistic blend of experimentation, weird combinations, the laid-back Italian lifestyle, a vision of sex as art, and an obsession for funky beats. DJ Ollie is a member of The Herbaliser, a duo whose sound lies between turntables and trombones, updating a deep jazz sound with modern techniques, while keeping a vibrant feel to their music courtesy of thumping double-bass and horns. Amon Tobin (who has also worked under the name Cujo) draws on jazz, hip hop, drum & bass, samba, bossa nova and more for his exotic sonic cocktail.
JOHN KING His "the in/out experience" combines warrior drum'n'bass rhythms with outer-spatial textures with experimental avant-noise 6-string trickeries.
other performers to be announced.
MOGWAI is already one of Scotland's biggest buzz bands, with a reputation built on a handful of 7" treasures. Their sweeping feedback and shimmering melodies are by turns devastating and exhilarating, and this is their much-awaited American debut.
BOWERY ELECTRIC find their inspiration in drone n' bass, seamlessly integrating digital sampling technology and the science of the breakbeat with rock instrumentation, transforming noises into choruses, understanding the space between the beats, and the depthless looping subsonic basslines -- delivered dub-erotic style. No tr*p-hop or p*st-rock, thank you.
BEN NEILL has won international recognition for his compelling, densely textured blend of dance rhythms, intricate harmonics and soaring melodies with his self-designed instrument, the mutantrumpet. It's used conventionally as well as to send signals to an interactive computer system, enabling Neill to play solos while controlling digital sounds. Neill has programmed this evening's performance.
JIM O'ROURKE is a composer/ producer (Brainiac, Faust, Tony Conrad, Smog, Palace Brothers, John Fahey) from Chicago and is a member of Gastr del Sol. His new solo album is "Happy Days." He has no idea what he's doing for this evening's performance.
DJ SPOOKY is a performer, a writer and a conceptual artist. Recognized as a founder of the "illbient" scene, his music derives its core elements from a cross-section of urban youth culture, and ranges over musical territory that includes hip hop, ambient, dub, and drum & bass. He's performed internationally, released three albums, created the sound installation for the Whitney Biennial, and is working on two books.
DAVID SHEA is a composer known mainly for his work with combinations of samplers and live ensembles, and his six recorded works, the most recent of which isSatyricon. He is also known for his work in John Zorn's ensembles and the ballets of Karole Armitage.
PROJECT DARK manufactures 7" singles made from vinyl, glass, hair, and wax. Using multiple record players as instrumentation, artifacts from their catalog are seduced into creating sounds characteristic of their nature. "Excited by Gramophones" is an intriguing and witty performance of alluring layers of serenity, serration and capricious rhythms combined to produce unique, physically-charged and sometimes music.
BLANK SLATES have distinguished themselves with a completely new take on Hip-Hop methodologies. Using analog keyboards, saxophones, live samplers and frenetic freestyles, they make experiments in free-form sounds creating an avant-garde Hip-Hop. Don't be surprised if some of New York's more eclectic scenesters make appearances.
SCANNER is the world's premiere telephone terrorist. Using scanned telephone conversations in the mix of his funny, intriguing and sometimes disturbing mixes. "Playing the scanner is not like playing the guitar," he says. "I never know what I'm going to pick up." The next time you talk on a cordless phone, Scanner might be listening.
MAIN is Robert Hampson (ex-Loop) and he explores an infinite spectrum of tone, timbres and frequencies for devastating soundscapes that have made a permanent impression on avant-rock. Main knows just how much music is going on when "nothing's happening" and just how noisy "silence" really is. Breathtaking.
TWEAKER is the highly-anticipated new project of Chris Vrenna (known for his work with Nine Inch Nails, Smashing Pumpkins), which makes its debut at the Music In The Anchorage. Tweaker is a dirty sonic ride through somber, yet hopeful, rhythmic disquiet.
DJ STICKER opens the show with his unusual and unexpected mix of unsettling sounds. This is his premiere New York performance.
LIQUID SKY MUSIC presents the current state of electronic music in New York with the help of the most influential producers and DJs in our scene. From drum n' bass pioneers Soul Slinger, del Mar, Odi and Ani, to the funky electro of Dmitri (Deee-Lite) and Khan (4-E), to the trip-hop ramblings of DJ Wally and the ambient chaos of DJ Spooky....come see why New York is the most musically dangerous city on the face of the earth.
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