March 2011 - newsletter - lists.coactcloud.com

Gridfest in Santa Fe May 6-8
by High Mayhem Newsletter 23 Mar '11

23 Mar '11

The monome community is organizing a 3 day festival in Santa Fe May 6-8. 13 artists from North America will descend upon New Mexico bringing sonic bliss made with buttons. *Discounted passes, workshops and cool free swag is available by supporting the event through Kickstarter: http://kck.st/dE7VTxthrough Sunday, March 27 only! * More information on the artists and the festival here: gridfestival.com. Info on monome: monome.org. Schedule: Friday May 6 @ Corazon, 401 S Guadalupe, 505-983-4559, 21+; $5 before 10pm, $7 after 9 ~ 10 Darkseeker <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=68> (Edmonton) 10 ~ 11 pm Edison <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=70> (San Francisco) 11 ~ 12 pm Making the Noise <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=80>(Boston) 12 ~ 1 am Portable Sunsets <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=76>(NYC) 1 ~ 1:40 am Cigarette Operahouse<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=66>(Toronto) Saturday May 7 @ Santa Fe Complex, 632 Agua Fria St, 505-216-7562, all ages. Workshops: $10, Performances: $10, All Day: $15 1:00 ~ 2:00 pm Monome From Scratch<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=42> 2:30 ~ 3:30 pm Ableton… did you know?<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=44> 4:00 ~ 6:00 pm Under the Hood <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=46> Performance set 1 (ambience + atmospheres) 8 ~ 8:30 pm Sweaty Caps <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=78> (Los Angeles) 8:30 ~ 9 pm Lokey <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=72> / noiseflowr<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=74>(Calgary/Edmonton) 9 ~ 9:30 pm Watson <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=87> (Santa Fe) 9:30 ~ 10:30 pm Anenon <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=64> (Los Angeles) Performance set 2 (beats + grooves) 11 ~ 11:30 pm TheAlphaNerd <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=85>(Toronto) 11:30 ~ 1200 pm the Cigarette Opérahouse<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=66>(Totonto) 12 ~ 12:30 am % <http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=60> (NYC) 12:30 ~ 1:30 am Altitude Sickness<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=62>(Los Angeles) Sunday, May 8 @ Santa Fe Complex, 632 Agua Fria St, 505-216-7562.; $300 2 ~ 6 pm DIY Monome Build Workshop<http://watsonsound.ws/gridfest/?page_id=50>

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iNK oN pAPER digital album release!!!
by High Mayhem Newsletter 13 Mar '11

13 Mar '11

[image: High Mayhem] High Mayhem Emerging Arts http://highmayhem.org/ *iNK oN pAPER digital album release: GET IT NOW! * http://highmayhem.org/downloads Drum ‘n’ Bass Mayhem By Peter Breslin >From the core of the surprisingly varied Santa Fe, New Mexico scene with one focal point at High Mayhem Emerging Arts, iNK oN pAPER’s Milton Villarrubia III and Carlos Santistevan strip down, mash up and rumble their way through a menu of trim, focused duets on their debut CD as a duo. As if drum ‘n’ bass took a detour through an electro-acoustic free-punk Jucifer and had its downbeats addled or partly removed, the pieces hint at chaos while slyly adhering to subtle, unexpected structures. Villarrubia’s drum sound is both crisp and fat, with murkier timbres and startling digital effects peppered by snaps, crackles and pops. Santistevan’s snarling, subterranean electric bass is sometimes also suddenly whimsical, clean and conversationally melodic. The minimalist, raw immediacy of the sound, captured meticulously by the highly nuanced, high quality recording, alternates refreshingly with dense washes of sculptured sound. The proceedings for iNK oN pAPER’s debut CD (available as a download from CDBaby, as well as download dropcards available through High Mayhem) have a no bones start with _17 Hits_, precisely what the title indicates: 17 unison, staccato, non-metrical slams, followed by a densely meandering series of improvisations, with the 17 hits returning periodically as a spine to hold the beast together. Many of the pieces are enigmatically named after locations or streets, such as _Cedar St._, featuring ominous rolls and electronic effects from Villarrubia III’s toms and buzz saw low end ululations from Santistevan. The odd meter _Sid-mars_ features a sinewy 31-beat line that is deceptively straightforward and some Alan Silva-style plaintive bow work from Santistevan. In general, the duo mixes a fierce willingness to take improvisational risks with surprising compositional elements, both in arrangement of the duets and in reoccurring composed themes. _Salt A&B_ is another example of the tension between prearranged themes, this time a wandering street-beat influenced 5 count from Villarrubia III, over-layered by aggressive phrases from Santistevan’s bowed bass. The duo’s music stays engaging and surprising not only by mixing composed themes with improvised excursions in fine balance, but also through the brevity of the individual tracks, with no title logging in at more than 5:30. In this way, each piece is a distinct entity, with its own flavor and distinctive ground rules. Though leaving room for roiling and grungy buzz and explosive gestures, each piece ultimately has the feel of a self-contained composition. The sense is that there is a game afoot, with Santistevan and Villarrubia III volleying suggestions back and forth, ultimately charging to each piece’s logical finish. iNK oN pAPER is an example of what underground presenting and producing organizations like High Mayhem do best: provide a home for artists and musicians whose commitment is to forms not embraced by the marketplace. High Mayhem’s varied, uncompromising and adventurous catalog suggests a newly emerging world of possibilities, with iNK oN pAPER carrying the message and the mayhem gloriously.

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UPDATED: High Mayhem March 5 All For Now and We Drew Lightning
by High Mayhem Newsletter 03 Mar '11

03 Mar '11

[image: High Mayhem] High Mayhem Emerging Arts http://highmayhem.org/ *All For Now* *(Thollem McDonas and John Deiterich of Deerhoof)* * * *We Drew Lightning* * * Saturday, March 5 at 9pm 2811 Siler Lane, Santa Fe NM ‘A night of short animated films by NY filmmaker Martha Colburn accompanied by All For Now’ Martha Colburn’s work utilizes the language and materials of film making to comment on popular culture, consumerism, politics and sexuality. Through a collage of live action (paint-on-glass) animations, found footage, and documentary filmmaking techniques, she addresses contemporary topics to express her personal anxieties and passions. Martha’s films are a disturbing and at times humorous take on popular and political culture. She creates elaborately layered collages,paintings, and installations that incorporate transparencies,recordings, and live performances. As her conceptual process grows, so follows advances in an already detailed and labor-intensive animating process. Martha is expanding her technique into working with multi-plane glass animation, which represents a physical manifestation of her conceptually layered ideas. Currently, Martha is working on films that combine art historical representations and current depictions of politics to challenge our notions of truth and fantasy. As a descendent of some of America’s earliest settlers (ministers, farmers and wagon train members), her work demonstrates an awareness of the repository of the guilt haunted twisted history of the American soul. Martha’s current work draws from this perspective and personal experience to address issues such as Methamphetamine use, environmental catastrophes, and man’s relationship to nature. All For Now is one of those special meetings, when the empathy and complicity between two players emerge into something far wider, complex, and profound than the simple circumstance of their encounter. How fitting that these two musicians should come together for their first recording at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art! McDonas on piano and voice, and Dieterich (from Deerhoof) on guitar here present lovely, spare, sometimes jarring, sometimes gentle improvisations that are thoroughly modernistic works of art in their own right. – KFJC Guitarist John Dieterich from Deerhoof accompanies the virtuoso pianist Thollem McDonas, who has been active for years back and forth between North America and Europe. All For Now is a series of duets characterised by strong and vivid tension. Pieces that are generally short, focused on the dissimulating and extremely diversified movements of Thollem, who moves from Debussy to Satie’s sparseness, with tasty hints from Monk to the most experimental moments until the piano seems to be prepared. For his part, Dieterich brushes and designs without ever overdoing except occasionally, reserving the harshest and acid chords to few – but very incisive – songs. The music flows with the appearance of improvisation though not with the more typical and obvious features. - Blow Up Magazine <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src=" http://www.youtube.com/embed/61RrkQrd6Gk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> www.highmayhem.org *AND....* *iNK oN pAPER digital album release: GET IT NOW! * http://highmayhem.org/downloads

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High Mayhem March 5 All For Now (Thollem McDonas and John Deiterich of Deerhoof)
by High Mayhem Newsletter 01 Mar '11

01 Mar '11

[image: High Mayhem] High Mayhem Emerging Arts http://highmayhem.org/ *All For Now* *(Thollem McDonas and John Deiterich of Deerhoof)* * * Saturday, March 5 at 9pm 2811 Siler Lane, Santa Fe NM ‘A night of short animated films by NY filmmaker Martha Colburn accompanied by All For Now’ Martha Colburn’s work utilizes the language and materials of film making to comment on popular culture, consumerism, politics and sexuality. Through a collage of live action (paint-on-glass) animations, found footage, and documentary filmmaking techniques, she addresses contemporary topics to express her personal anxieties and passions. Martha’s films are a disturbing and at times humorous take on popular and political culture. She creates elaborately layered collages,paintings, and installations that incorporate transparencies,recordings, and live performances. As her conceptual process grows, so follows advances in an already detailed and labor-intensive animating process. Martha is expanding her technique into working with multi-plane glass animation, which represents a physical manifestation of her conceptually layered ideas. Currently, Martha is working on films that combine art historical representations and current depictions of politics to challenge our notions of truth and fantasy. As a descendent of some of America’s earliest settlers (ministers, farmers and wagon train members), her work demonstrates an awareness of the repository of the guilt haunted twisted history of the American soul. Martha’s current work draws from this perspective and personal experience to address issues such as Methamphetamine use, environmental catastrophes, and man’s relationship to nature. All For Now is one of those special meetings, when the empathy and complicity between two players emerge into something far wider, complex, and profound than the simple circumstance of their encounter. How fitting that these two musicians should come together for their first recording at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art! McDonas on piano and voice, and Dieterich (from Deerhoof) on guitar here present lovely, spare, sometimes jarring, sometimes gentle improvisations that are thoroughly modernistic works of art in their own right. – KFJC Guitarist John Dieterich from Deerhoof accompanies the virtuoso pianist Thollem McDonas, who has been active for years back and forth between North America and Europe. All For Now is a series of duets characterised by strong and vivid tension. Pieces that are generally short, focused on the dissimulating and extremely diversified movements of Thollem, who moves from Debussy to Satie’s sparseness, with tasty hints from Monk to the most experimental moments until the piano seems to be prepared. For his part, Dieterich brushes and designs without ever overdoing except occasionally, reserving the harshest and acid chords to few – but very incisive – songs. The music flows with the appearance of improvisation though not with the more typical and obvious features. - Blow Up Magazine <iframe title="YouTube video player" width="640" height="390" src=" http://www.youtube.com/embed/61RrkQrd6Gk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> www.highmayhem.org

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