AMPLIFY 2008: light

[yonhosago]

It isn't easy to articulate what a lot of these sounds are like, but I hope someone will unpack a little further what Mark started in the solo Rowe set. It's clear from his remarks that Rowe is once again departing from prior stuff, a jettisoning of certain elements (drone/steady state foundations?), but not clear to me what the new dynamics are.

Not so new I think.

instead, he played several classical selections off an ipod into his mix, to color and mold his own sounds without interacting with them directly.

The third period of using the tape recorder was immediately after Cardew's death in December '81. For example, I performed with Phil Minton and Roger Turner at the Arnolfini Gallery where I contributed a short solo in tribute to Cardew who had died a week or so before. I used a taped version of Barber's Adagio with some pages of Cardew's Treatise.

[mudd]

so the last night was all duos.

keith and sachiko started off the night, with him using barely a corner of his full table and she returning to sinewaves. his scrapes, rustles, crackles, and crumbles were answered with spikes, pops, and the occasional wave allowed space to drone. it was gentle, delicate stuff, keith taking a touch so light i thought of jeph jerman handling leaves at times. and sachiko seems to have taken encouragement from the contact mic solo, as she broadened her sound palette by working the wires and connections on her wave generators in addition to her more familiar sinewave material.

the second set was yoshimura and yamauchi. yoshimura's sine waves were more patient today, without letting the spiky noises to escape as he modulated his wave. yamauchi, on the other hand, jumped from technique to technique, working through what seemed like everything he had to find the parts that best fit with yoshimura. alas, he didn't stumble on just the right sound for me until the last minute of their performance.

finally, keith rowe and toshimaru nakamura renewed their duo after several years. and the results were perhaps a little bit of a throwback with keith returning to thick, rumbling layers and toshi bringing his roughest sounds to match him. which is not to say they didn't find their delicate moments, as well, but the thick, dense sound dominated.

and that was the festival. many, many thanks to jon and yuko for putting that together, and to all the musicians for playing some amazing music.

m

[jon abbey]

Not so new I think.

well, this was improv, not Treatise, contained four or five very specifically programmed pieces, and I'm quite sure that the parts in between (the bulk of the set) bore little relation. also, that was one set out of four. anyway, there's a solid chance I'll put this one out too, so maybe people can hear for themselves.

The Room notes: Keith needs to work on them more, as they are, they aren't especially comprehensible to anyone but him (including me, and I've tried a lot). we're going to try to finish them soon, we talked about that a few days ago.

[jon abbey]

an amusing side note: typhoon mark came to town for four days, much of which was rainy, virtually all of which was cloudy. since he left yesterday afternoon, there pretty much hasn't been a cloud in the sky and it's supposed to be sunny for the rest of the week.

[mudd]

bastard weather.

i could use some of those clouds here, though. maybe they'll follow me home.

m

[Jesse]

bastard weather.
maybe they'll follow me home.

m

[jon abbey]

[jon abbey]

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[Jesse]

Thanks, Yuko.

[jon abbey]

[jon abbey]

[jon abbey]

[jon abbey]

so that's one pic of setting up, followed by one pic from each set in order, except for Yoshimura solo, which was in total blackness. and as Jesse said, all were taken by Yuko Zama, please credit anywhere you repost them. all of these and a few more for now are here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13715378@N00/

some fantastic ones there, the Keith solo one with the ghost hovering over (Takayanagi?), Sachiko solo poised to strike, and the tangible light in the initial setting up one. nice job, Yuko!

[Dan Warburton]

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[hatta]

I'm not going to talk about the sets yet, as I'm posting from a faux-Irish Ex-pat bar in Kyoto, but since I've got WiFi and a charged phone for the first time in a week I can't resist a couple of comments.

First off the Amplify was amazing- mostly all solid to mind-blowing sets, with Keith producing a stunning set of four performances in three days. Include the post-show drinking sessions with the participants each night: this was an incredible weekend. So let me offer my thanks and congrats to all, but especially to Jon, Yuko and Keith. For the music and everything else.

For the rest of you expect reports and pictures in a few days.

[jon abbey]

thanks, robert, glad you could be a part of it! hopefully mr. faster will also chime in at some point...