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Update
Magic in the Air
Vicki Bennett SAN Commission

Earlier this year, Sonic Arts Network commissioned Vicki Bennett to create a new work for us to tour to contemporary art spaces around the UK. Under the name People Like Us, Vicki has developed a unique path between contemporary music and artists film and video and in her recent work she has sampled sound and image simultaneously, layering them into a richly detailed collage – “a living cinema.”

The Toronto Film Festival has described her as “A master manipulator, Vicki Bennett sutures exquisite corpses using old ephemeral films, worn LPs and the most recent tools of electronic music. She is the Umberto Eco of Rick Prelinger’s Internet Movie Archives, lost forever in the library stacks, but still managing to send back pastiche missives to the outside world – hers are strange and humorous audio collages."

Vicki's work will be completed early in the new year and we caught up with her at her home in London to ask her a little about her work.

When did you start working with image as well as sound and how has it changed your thinking about what you do?

I did start off in visual art (video) in the late 80's, or rather that was my "training", and I quickly moved to radio and releasing albums because it was more financially/technically viable.  It wasn't possible to be doing desktop animation at that point.  But I was imagining even then that I wanted to be doing what I am now, and just had to wait about 10 years to do so, during which time I released a lot of audio work.  In 1996 I started doing "live" work as People Like Us, which was an expanded form of DJing (but not in the dance music tradition) and using video clips which I'd scratch-looped with two video recorders and I fed the sound from the video too.  This was far from satisfying but it fed the need from within to be presenting something "total".  In 1999 I got my first computer and started capturing film footage into it and editing in Premiere, and then the real break was when I started animating in Adobe After Effects in 2001.  It hasn't really changed my thinking because I edit in the same way for both audio and video - making layers of sound/image into a collage by literally hammering them into place like wooden bricks.  It has however helped me develop a deeper and more intense communication with my audience because I can grab attention and silence from the spectator much better when combining two senses.

What or who inspired you to work in this way?

It's hard to say because I don't really know my genre when it comes to visual art.  I'm one of those people clearly in the experimental/avant music scene, and if I walked through that section of the Rough Trade shop I could tell you who most of the people are and how I relate to them.  But with video/film I really haven't a clue.  Maybe this is why I edit video in the same way as sound.  I have been told that there are not many people working with found film footage in the way I do.  I know I very much admire a number of people working with collage and appropriation, also people with a surrealistic/dada/humourous slant to their communication - no matter how that may manifest, regardless of whether it is "art".

What are you making for the Sonic Arts Network commission and in what way, if at all, is it a new challenge or development of your previous work?

An installation piece called "Magic in the Air".  The idea is to present a piece on two screens (at the back a backlit screen, and at the front a see-through screen) giving the feeling that all that goes on within is controlled by magic,  in every sense of the word.  This is the first piece I've made as a stand alone piece for a space, rather than as a film (for TV or cinema) or gig (timebased for seated audience), or an album (which goes off to the ether never to be seen again!).

There seems to be an underlying narrative to many of your pieces.  Do  you approach each project with an outcome in mind or let it build up intuitively?

I approach each project with a hope that the outcome will be something like what I approached it with :-)  Normally I make that happen with a narrative of some kind.  This is what sews it together.  Whether this will happen with Magic in the Air I just don't know yet.  The thing about working with found film footage (I'm using documentary film from Prelinger Archives and AV Geeks) is you can only "direct" to a certain extent.  On one hand it's annoying because you really wish the actors would behave themselves, but on the other hand it's the very fixed nature of found footage that makes you do far more than you could imagine, and think in a different way each time.  There is no point in controlling the outcome of work because you'll never get quite what you wanted.  I prefer to walk with it until I look back and see how far I've come and wonder how I got so far up the hill, and that it must have been all the walking and talking that did it.  Really, I just trust that after sitting there for a month staring at the screen and drawing around moving objects until my eyes are pink, 'something' will be there at the end of it, and invariably it is and it makes sense.

What is a typical day in the life of Vicki Bennett when you are making a new work and what helps you make it through the day?
A typical day would be getting everything else out of the way before starting work.  Any self-employed artist knows that in fact a small percentage of time is spent actually making work, and the rest is spent being the administrator and pr person for your work.  So doing email and going to the post office and talking on the phone and burning CDs, DVDs and writing to people about doing gigs etc.  What helps me get through the day?  Being connected to the internet.  I listen to WFMU (a freeform radio station in NY, which incidentally I have a show on http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/PL), and am on some online chat communities that also appreciate avant/experimental music.  So I'm never sitting here alone, there are normally a bunch of people sitting here on my screen, also getting on with their thing.  The artwork gradually starts at some point in the afternoon and can invariably continue through to about midnight.  Once I'm fully into making the work (which can take forever to not feel distracted by just about everything) I'll work until 2 or 3 and won't want to go to sleep at all.

Would you say there is a sense of Englishness about your pieces and how much of your personality is present in your work?
Yes, the humour is English, for sure.  My personality is very present in the work.  The "underlying narrative" that is unspoken is my personality.  Similar themes run through just about all of my work in one sense or another. 

Do you aim to flick certain switches in peoples subconscious, almost like an audiovisual mnemonic?
Yes, but it's not calculated and there isn't a message in what I do.  I want to be a mirror and the best way for me to do that is throw layers of meaning - using collage.  This way there are so many different ways in.  The main aim is to be able to communicate AT ALL.

How do you define your work?
Collage.  Or appropriation.  All the other definitions are too small and related to fashion, and I will go along with them to get to play a gig or something, but I don't really see myself as representing plunderphonics, or anti copyright, and especially the vile "vj" definition, that is just gross.

Do you ever face any copyright issues with your work and what are your views on this topic?
Not so far.  Most people don't.  It's a big waste of time worrying about who is going to stop you from expressing yourself.  I prefer 'what is' to 'what if'.

What else are you doing at the moment, where can people  hear/experience your work?
Once I've done Magic in the Air I'll be continuing to update my People Like Us live set (thanks to a Arts Council England Grants For Arts commission), and I'm moving to New York in the spring and will resume my radio show, "DO or DIY" on WFMU.  I'll also be doing a soundtrack to a film by Rick Prelinger (http://www.prelinger.com).  I'd really love to make another album too, and a DVD next year.

You can download my entire 12 year back catalogue for free at http://www.peoplelikeus.org/dnload.htm. Many thanks to UBUWEB (http://www.ubu.com) for hosting this.  Two of my films are on the Internet Archive ('We Edit Life' and 'Resemblage')


  



Saturday 4 December
THE STATE OF AFFAIRS II
(One Day Symposium)
Conway Hall, London
 A one day symposium, organisd by the Sonic Arts Programme, Middlesex University and featuring Rut Blees Luxemburg, Max Eastley, John Levack Drever, Conor Kelly, Andrew McGettigan, Dave Beech and Salomé Voegelin.
www.sonic.mdx.ac.uk

Fri 10 December
ERRAICA
(Live performance)
Corsica Studios, Elephant and Castle
KCP live plus Point B plus Kelpe plus others, see website for info.
http://www.seedrecords.co.uk

6 – 27 February
IF:05
(festival)
Various Venues, London
IF:05 profiles the joint artistry of Colin Riley and Peter Wiegold exploring contemporary music making from their unique perspective of pioneering work in improvised/devised and electronic and jazz/popular music. The theme of IF:05 is ‘NEW BANDS’ with the programme exploring the relationship between performer and composer and the creative opportunities of improvised, devised and written music.  Included in the festival are major new works by both Colin Riley –with theatre director Toby Wilsher, Peter Wiegold - Damn Braces incorporating improvised and composed music - as well as the launch of two new ensembles: Moov and notes in_gales. Also  Richard Barrett with the British premier of his new work Blattwerk,  new pieces by Martin Butler, Tansy Davies, Morgan Hayes,  Homemade Orchestra, Poing.
www.if-festival.co.uk

10,11,17 & 18 December
CHRISTIAN MARCLAY: The Sounds of Christmas
(live performances)
Tate Modern, London
The Sounds of Christmas is an annual project by Christian Marclay, pioneer of the experimental turntable movement and leading artist operating at the intersections of art and music. Reinventing this work-in-progress for London,  the artist will present his collection of over 1,200 Christmas records as a publicly accessible archive in a special Thameside pavilion, alongside projections of the record covers and footage of previous performances (exhibition open 10-22 December during gallery hours).Combining blatant sentimentality with vanguard experimentation, Marclay suggests that the categories distinguishing ‘serious’ music from its opposite are both arbitrary and arcane.

During the two-week installation, co-produced with Electra, noted DJs will create live remixes of their own selection from Marclay's Christmas records. These recorded performances will create a soundtrack for the space:

10 December- Christian Marclay, Matt Wand. 11 December - Strictly Kev (DJ Food), Paul Hood (Resonance FM). 17 December - Matt Black (Coldcut), Ergo Phizmiz, Bohman Brothers.  18 December - Janek Schaefer, People Like Us
www.tate.org.uk/modern

3, 9 & 10  December
FULL SPECTRUM DOMINANCE
(festival)
various, Turin, Italy
Full sprectrum dominance is an event comprising film, video manipulation, live soundscape mixing and DJ 'ing.

Film includes Parasitic Cacophonia's 'Requiem 4 Dead Media', a filmic realisation of La Fontaigne's fable of the 'Parasites Feast', of ravenous rats feasting on a noisy banquet of disused electronics. 'Valkyrie' original footage from the on board camera of a US Helicopter gunship in deadly action, with an exclusive live soundtrack. Live soundscaping of submerged dub and experimental electronics from Gray Cunnington. Live VJ' ing from Agent Simon using Imag/ine software. Live DJ' ing from Parasitic and Gray C spanning the electronic and industrious avant-garde from the dawn of the electronic age through the digital diaspora and journeying into the sonic future. Live performance of PPP connected to the global markets with Max/MSP software.  Paul Jamrozy (ParasiticProtocolPortfolio), Gray Cunnington and Agent Simon all formerly from Test Dept.
www.cartonionline.com

10-12 December
KILL YOUR TIMID NOTION
(festival)
Various venues, Dundee
Music and art including Text Of Light with Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht, Ulrich Krieger and Tim Barnes; film and electroacoustics from Jérôme Noetinger and Cellule d'Intervention Metamkine; improvised rock from Thuja with Keith Evans; Tower Recordings; film maker Jürgen Reble with Thomas Köner; and minimal electronics from Japanese artist Sachiko M.  www.killyourtimidnotion.org

9 December
GAVIN BRYARS & THE LONDON SINFONIETTA
(concert)
London Royal Festival Hall
Bryars conducts a programme of his own work, including The Sinking Of The Titanic (with a remix by Aphex Twin), Jesus' Blood Never Failed Me Yet, plus a new piece, From Egil's Saga.  Also pieces by Arvo Pärt and Erkki- Sven Tüür.
www.rfh.org.uk

12 December
RON GEESIN
(live performance)
Soundbeams, Brighton
Rare appearance of electronics hero, improvising on banjo and piano.
01273 770258.

3 December
ARVE HENRIKSEN/ STÅLE STORLØKKEN
(concert)
St Martin-in-the-Fields, London
The Royal Norwegian Embassy's Christmas concert featuring trumpet and electronics player Henriksen with . Supported by Kari Bremnes with percussion player Helge Norbakken and keyboards player Bengt Hanssen. www.norway.org.uk

8-29 December
THE SHOUT: A DAY IN THE LIFE
(concert)
Various venues, UK

Choir presents an alternative Christmas concert with  Christmas songs in unusual arrangements.

Brighton Komedia (8 December),Warwick Arts Centre (10), Nottinghamshire Thoresby Riding Stables (11), Bracknell South Hill Park (12), Bristol St George's (16), Totnes Dartington Hall (20), Brighton Komedia (22), London Purcell Room (28-29).

17 December
THE BLANK SPACE
(live performance)
The Red Rose Club, London
A night of sonic and visual improvisation in conjunction with Middlesex University Sonic Arts Society featuring orphansunlight, Vivian Comma, audiowife and more.
020 7263 7265.

6-11 December.
EMS 40TH ANNIVERSARY
(festival)
Stockholm,Sweden
40th birthday of The Electroacoustic Music in Sweden organisation., including, performances by Sten Hanson, concerts with live electronics, musicians with tape music, films, dance collaborations and seminars. www.ems.rikskonserter.se

10-12 December
LIVE!IXEM
(festival)
Italy
Winners of an Italian experimental electronica competition for audio-visual artists.  Also Thomas Köner, Jurgen Reble, Gert Jan Prins, Skoltz_Kolgen.
www.ixem.it

9-11 December
2:13
(festival)
Greece
International Improv and electronics. Taku Unami lectures on  Japanese underground, Joe Tornabene on baritone sax, Mecha-Orga on guitar and electronics, Bertrand Denzler on saxophones, and Leet Patterson. Vals on laptop, Graham Halliwell on saxophone feedback and Jean Pallandre's phonography . Coti on harmonium, Taku Unami and David Toop.
www.aptera.gr

 

Orchestral Spectres:
Murcof from MARTES to UTOPIA

Soon after the release of Fernando Corona’s (Murcof’s) debut Martes, an amateur programmer and friend of mine had vowed that he would never listen to the record again. Corona’s brilliance had been an enormous blow to the nascent composer who regarded the record as a reminder of his own futility: In his mind, Martes was unsurpassable.

Whilst technical wizardry can be learned, beats layered and filtered and algorithms employed, the strength of one’s composition in digital sampling still depends entirely on the artist’s vision. Corona’s approach to composition is very much the antithesis of the hackneyed spunk-jazz of your Aphex Twins and Squarepushers and it is the cultivated simplicity of his work that is so insurmountable.

Throughout Martes and the later Utopia, Corona’s limitation in the deployment of electronic rhythm and texture is deliberate. Sparingly, though no less arrestingly, crackling beats punctuate the overall malaise.

Although the contemporaneous savvy of his programming is immediate in its disclosure, the ‘borrowed’ sounds that form his music’s emotional core are anything but anachronistic.  In fact, the added texturisation both appropriates and recalls the tentative approach taken by the modernist composers exhumed and sampled in the melodic portion of his sound. It is not, as some reviewers have remarked, a question of contrast: The two forms exist as fractured symbiosis.

Semantically speaking, Murcof has created a dialectic between the desperate and the deathly: Never have the sustained piano chords, dissonant strings and mournful voices of the past been more at home than amongst the inhuman blips, stutters and drones of the present. Ultimately, it is not the key, the timbre or the production of the former work that Corona has borrowed but the anxiety – an anxiety radically more suited to our own post-millennial period than the origin of the recorded performances; the 1960s.

Utopia is primarily a remix album, featuring re-workings by artists from Norway, Germany, Mexico and the USA. However, it includes 2 originals (Una and Ultimatum) and two more from Murcof’s Ulysses EP – Ulysses and the accompanying Urano.

Ulysses opens the Utopia set. Over ten minutes in length, it is as ambitious a single track as James Joyce’s book of the same name. For several of these minutes the characteristic rhythms lay in waiting, Corona conjuring disembodied strings akin to the orchestral work of Polish composer Penderecki’s Thernody for the Victims of Hiroshima. Although the rhythms that finally emerge are suited to the mounting linearity of the piece, their constancy is disappointingly similar to the more predictable micro-house territory of Corona’s peers. The fluttering, spasmodic textures of the even lengthier Urano are more satisfying - stapling the menacing drones together with far greater effect.

The exclusive Una is also reminiscent of the Martes set. Warm, close-harmony string phrases are carefully spaced by reverberated static and the awkward dribblings of a violated violin - perhaps one of Penderecki’s own victims. The other exclusive, Ultimatum, would seem to recycle some of his Martes piano samples and ends Utopia on a suitably desolate note. Particularly notable are the largely bare, staggered beat-box ‘boomps’ of its introduction.

As a rule, the remixes are reverential of the originals and choose not to mess with Corona’s refined formula. Having said this, Jan Jelinek’s attempt at Martes’ Maiz does bleach out some of its distinctive malevolence and wouldn’t sound out of place on Jelinek’s 2003 La Nouvelle Pauvrete record.

The rampant tech-step abandon of Seth Horvitz’s and Icarus’ mixes I fear completely miss the point and Fax’s take on Ulysses manages to be slightly shorter but infinitely duller (and not in a good way) than the original.  Horror of all horrors, I can imagine a Trance hack supplying the tasteless ‘euphoric’ chords creeping insidiously into this one.

Of the better re-workings, Geoff White’s aeroc mix of Mo is the most compelling.  Here is an artist who has been able to apprehend both the explicit science of Murcof and its more intangible (but no less substantive) nuances. Thus, he is able to dispense with a number of the more immediate trademarks without forfeiting the complex psychology of the work. His mix of Mo is structurally alien to Corona’s and Corona’s double-time typewriter-like beat signature has been replaced by a sticky, corpulent hip-hop rhythm. However, I identify with White’s mix in much the same way as I do its source material and it manages to retain Murcof’s highly particular sentiments.

Article by Heydon Pickering
Heydon is an artist and composer, living and working in Norwich
heydon@rogersonandpickering.co.uk



Community Radio Projects

Castle Vale Community Radio is planning to expand and may soon be serving around 170,000 people across 3 wards in North Birmingham and Solihull. As well as broadcasting twice a year on the Castle Vale housing estate, our work over the last 10 years has involved many projects with schools, youth clubs, day centres and other community groups and individuals. We have run workshops, research projects, archival work, produced radio plays and collaborated with local artists, writers, radio professionals, students and cultural agencies.

To help us establish a presence in our new expanded broadcast area we are now looking for proposals for all sorts of projects. If you have an idea for a community radio project we may be able to access funding, provide production facilities, link you up with community groups and ultimately broadcast your work across North Birmingham.

Visit http://www.cvcr.co.uk for more info on the station. There is no closing date for proposals. Projects will run on an ongoing basis from late 2005. Please email all proposals, expressions of interest or enquiries to bensemp@yahoo.co.uk

MusicLeader London
MusicLeaser will provide the following for current and aspiring Music Leaders:
Information, advice & guidance services - Development led Networking opportunities - Professional Development and CPD.
Music Leaders - Practitioners and project managers involved in delivering music making for young people.

For MusicLeader London, Sound Connections seeks to commission Research into the following:
1. A Training / Skills needs analysis from Employers / Hirers in the Greater London region.
2. To undertake a Training / Skills needs analysis from Employees / Freelance operators in the Greater London region
3. To Map current providers of Training and Advisory information in participatory Music Making
4. To compare identified needs with availability of provision
5. To present the above in a written report with contact details & information from research

In establishing this new service, MusicLeader London needs to make sure that Existing and effective provision is not duplicated but, wherever possible, embraced. This may also mean that through strong links to other funded /financed initiatives.

Gaps in provision for which there is a proven substantiated need are identified and that any resources which are reserved for commissioning of 'new' provision are efficiently used.
That solutions to identified barriers to participation are offered practical and effective solutions. Timescale - Work to be undertaken in period December '04 - mid / late February '05 with interim reporting taking place

Fee - Up to £7,000 inc VAT and expenses
Deadline for applications - Mon 22 November 2020
For further details and information, please go to:
http://www.sound-connections.org.uk/jobs

Temporary Senior Music Officer
A Senior Music Officer is required who will take responsibility for publicity and marketing for the award winning Leeds International Concert Season.

In addition, candidates will be expected to take on the presentation of a number of concert series. Candidates should possess a music or related degree and have at least three years experience in arts administration.The person appointed will be self-motivated, enthusiastic and committed to the development of music in the City.

For an informal discussion about the post contact: Matthew Sims,Principal Music Officer Tel: 0113 247 8335

Application forms can be obtained from:
Human Resources Section,
Learning and Leisure Department,
8 th Floor West, Merrion House,
110 Merrion Centre,
Leeds LS2 8ET

or telephone Leeds (0113) 247 8382
e-mail: LS.leisure.recruitment@leeds.gov.uk

Music Studio Director
The Premises Studios Ltd is creating a new post of Studio Director to start work in the New Year as a key member of our existing friendly and enthusiastic team of staff. The Premises is a complex of recording and rehearsal studios founded in 1983, based in London's East End. Our client list covers a vast spectrum of music - raw beginners, chart stars, jazz giants, indie bands, world music legends, covers bands, troubled geniuses,gospel choirs etc. The Premises has recently completed the first phase ofan ambitious redevelopment and we are now looking for an experienced person to head up our team of music studio staff and help maximise the potential within the new studio complex.

The skills we require are as follows:

* A confident and skilled communicator able to work face to face with a very diverse and demanding client group, demonstrating friendliness, enthusiasm and professionalism at all times.

* Developed management skills with the ability to motivate and inspire an existing team of committed staff.

* Broad and up to date knowledge of music and the music industry.

* An understanding of audio equipment including computer systems and rehearsal room PA systems and backline.

* Excellent entrepreneurial skills and the ability to be self motivated, flexible and creative in the approach to business and staff management.

* Excellent organisational skills and the ability to work well under pressure in what can be a hectic and demanding environment.

* The ability to build strong connections with an existing network of clients and to build on these and continually bring in new artists and musicians.

* The ability to manage several projects at once, with the support of both existing management and floor staff.

The job might suit someone with a background in touring or artist management, with experience of music performance environments.

Hours of work and pay to be negotiated. Full time post with possible weekend and evening work. Please contact Viv Broughton or Julia Craik on 020 7729 7593 or premisesstudios@btconnect.com for further details and to arrange an interview.

Sound Designer
lalacollective are looking for a Sound Designer to work closely with them in the development of their forthcoming prodction Shuti; a physical performance piece exploring the nature of longing which will be presented as a scratch performance during ROAR '05. As we have no payment to offer this role would suit someone at the beginning of their career, wanting to
work with like minded individuals in the live art arena. We are looking to develop a relationship for the future with an individual who is passionate about sound creation and interested in experimenting within theatre.

All CV's to lala@bahbah.co.uk

Max/MSP Introduction
Max/MSP Introductory Weekend Course at Goldsmiths College Electronic Music Studios London

Saturday December 4th + 11th 2004/January 8th + 15th 2005 10am - 6pm
Tutor: Sebastian Lexer

For full course details & to download a booking form go to:

http://www.goldsmiths.ac.uk/departments/music/ems/courses.html


EXPO 966: THE ANNUAL SAN EXPOSITION
17-20 JUNE 2005 - In conjunction with University of Hull, Scarborough Campus
Deadline for proposals: 31 January 2021

Expo 966 is an opportunity to showcase the work of the best UK practitioners, to meet, listen and respond. After the success of last year's highly eclectic event in Leicester the focus now shifts northward with a packed weekend of SAN curated action hosted in association with The University of Hull, Scarborough Campus. This weekend of performance, exhibition and presentation will take place across a variety of public venues and spaces in Scarborough including concert halls, bars and nightclubs, each reflecting the unique culture of this northern seaside town. The weekend aims to highlight the broadest possible range of approaches and thinking that surrounds the sonic arts. We welcome submissions of all kinds.

There is no charge for the submission or acceptance of work, and indeed entry to the weekend continues to be free to all members of Sonic Arts Network with most events free to all members of the public. We do ask that selected artists attend the event.

more details here

Call For Submissions: Disquiet
Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre, Kingston Ontario Canada
Guest curator: Christof Migone
Submission Deadline: February 1st, 2005

Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre is seeking works investigating the notion of silence as a disturbance.

Silence, as charged rather than neutral. Silence in the context of peril, conflict, disquietude. The relationship between the silencer and the silencedÐto shut, to mute, to muzzle, to censor. Silence is both a break, a caesura, and a constant, a continuity. Its volume can be louder than words, its infinitude can be both repressive and liberatory. It can be either a product of enforcement or a tactic of resistance. I would prefer not to. It can also be that momentary lull before an outbreak of laughter; the portentous seriousness of silence can be shifted to aspects of play. A quiet state can be both prelude and postscript to a panoply of events: farcical, absurd, traumatic,quotidian, mediatized, global, intimate, sensorial, political, etc.Disquiet is disturbed silence. Silence under tension. Disquiet marks silence as a palpable presence.

Disquiet is initiated by Modern Fuel as part of an entire programming season dedicated to the theme of Silence. This theme enfolds multiple political subtexts-silence as systemic racism, unspoken power over another; conversely, silence conjures up more explicit interpretations such as one-minute-of-silence as remembrance or as speechlessness.Equally, silence speaks to, and of, its antithesis: voice, protest,resistance, song. Silence and speech cannot be catagorized as simply bad and good, respectively or vice-versa, but are located on a dimentional continuum where various degrees of communication are possible. Disquiet fits into and interacts with this contiuum.

Disquiet is open to all disciplines.

Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre facilitates the presentation and interpretation of visual and time-based arts that explore wide-ranging aesthetics and a broad scope of formal and socio-cultural questions. We encourage submissions both from artists residing within the region and outside these boundaries, and program Modern Fuel Gallery according to a 50/50 split. (Our region spans an approximate radius of 100 km around Kingston.)

Submissions must include the following:
  1. A cover letter introducing your proposal
  2. 10 numbered slides of related work with a slide list OR a 5-min.video in VHS/DVD format OR a CD-ROM

Call For Works for 2005
Ancient Knowledge and The Future: Neolithic Roots in the 21st Century

The Mission of NWEAMO: To forge connections between the composers, performers and lovers of avant garde classical music and the DJs, MCs, guitar-gods, troubadours and gourmets of experimental popular music. When there is no connection, both suffer: When classical music does not connect with popular culture, it becomes a music of experts, unable to reflect and contribute meaningfully in the broad marketplace of developing ideas and cultural experimentation. When popular music has no connection and communication with the classical it becomes naive and superficial, untethered to its historical roots and broad cultural underpinnings. A healthy cultural milieu celebrates both. 

We're pleased to announce that we are now accepting submissions for our 2005 festival, with the theme of Ancient Knowledge and The Future: Neolithic Roots in the 21st Century We are looking for electro-acoustic music that explores ancient traditions, rituals, instruments, belief systems, musical styles, philosophies etc.

This year's festival will once again be held in two fine west coast cities, Portland, Oregon and San Diego. As usual, works do not have to strictly adhere to the theme. We are looking for all genres and ideas in the world of electro-acoustic music! 

Festival Dates:
• Sep. 30 & Oct. 1, 2005 Portland, OR
• Oct. 7 & 8, 2005 San Diego, CA

Submission Deadline: March 15, 2021

BASIC GUIDELINES: (PLEASE READ!)

• We invite you to participate in our annual celebration of creativity. Please regard this as an opportunity to meet with fellow composers and performers who are dedicated to exploring the edges of aesthetics, cognition and international culture through electro-acoustic music. 
• Selected composers must attend the festival.
• Performers must be provided by applicant.
• Generally NWEAMO cannot provide funds for travel, accomodation, performance fees etc. Small honorarioums may be available, depending on the overall costs of the festival, but these will not come close to covering the costs of attending.
• There is a $15 upfront registration fee per work. This goes to support the festival in general.  There are no other fees.
• NWEAMO is an all volunteer, not-for-profit, 501(c)3 corporation.

Start your registration now by submitting your audio files, images, and/or digital video files. We're looking forward to hearing from you!

rodrigo@rodrigosigal.com
www.rodrigosigal.com

Call For Articles
Hz (www.hz-journal.org) is looking for articles on net art, new media, electronic music/electro-acoustic music and sound art. Previously published/unpublished articles in English are welcomed. Please send your submissions to hz-journal@telia.com

Hz is published by Fylkingen, a non-profit art organization in Stockholm. Established in 1933, Fylkingen has been promoting new and experimental art forms throughout its history. For more information, visit www.fylkingen.se or www.hz-journal.org.

SICMF 2005: Call For Works
Korean Electro-Acoustic Music Society is having The 12th Seoul International Computer Music Festival. The Festival provides electro-acoustic music works.

Categories
1. tape music
2. electro-acoustic music with instruments (up to 8 players)
3. live electro-acoustic music
4. audio-visual media art

Rules & Regulations
1. All composition have to be composed after 2002 and should be less than 20 minutes long.
2. Scores should accompany piece that require performers. The number of performers is limited to 8 persons.
3. For performances requiring specific traditional instruments or special instruments, composers are responsible for providing performers on location.
4. Channels for audio playback is limited to 8 channels. ADAT & DA-88 will be provided.
5. Detailed information regarding live electro-acoustic music pieces such as equipment, hardware, software etc. should be included with submission.
6. Composers must attach a short biography & program note for their composition (approx. 150 words).

Media Submit Formats
1. All composition except audio-visual works should be submitted via CD, DAT, ADAT, or DA-88 format.
2. Audio-visual works should be submitted 6mm DV, VHS(NTSC or PAL), SVHS(NTSC or PAL) or DVD Disc.

Deadline
Submission must be postmarked no later than March 2, 2005.

Address
Computer Music Studio (4th floor)
(Korean Electro-Acoustic Music Society)
The Korean National University of Arts
1753, Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu,
Seoul 137-070, Korea
(Tel: 82-2-520-8106)

For Further Information: master@keams.org

Doojin Ahn, President

http://www.computermusicor.kr/main_en/

Call for Audio Submissions
Linux Open Source Sound CD (L.O.S.S.)
[Planned release date - April 2005]
Deadline for submissions: 07-Jan-05

Access Space, Sheffield's lowtech digital arts organisation, is currently calling for submissions for a CD of audio produced with open source software, and the Linux operating system.

There is no specific theme for the curated works, as the concept behind the project is freedom of all elements of music manufacture, encapsulating style, production software and distribution techniques. We hope to receive submissions covering a broad and eclectic range of styles, to represent the dynamic nature of contemporary open source audio culture. Therefore, contributions are invited from musicians of all types, programmers, sound artists or artists who use sound.

The LOSS CD is to be released under a Creative Commons 'Sampling Plus' license, so as well as being produced with free software, the CD will also extend the ethos of the open source movement into its method of distribution. For more information about this license, please visit http://creativecommons.org.

Please do not submit tracks if you are not willing to release your work in this manner.

The LOSS project will develop not only through the CD release, but also through a website, aimed at being an ongoing portal for producers of open source music to showcase their work. This will also offer the works for redistribution under the Creative Commons licensing mentioned above. This website will be online later in the year at http://www.access-space.org/loss.

How to submit your proposal:

[A maximum of 2 tracks per artist, each between 20 seconds and 8 minutes in length.]

Send a DATA CD containing the following files:
- Your audio track(s) in .wav format, 16bit, 44.1khz in either mono or stereo.
- A text document stating your name, contact details (email and mailing address), track title, track length, the software and operating system used for producing the track, and a declaration that your track does not infringe any copyrights or use any unlicensed material.
- An optional screenshot (in .jpg or .png format) of your software setup - which may be used for artwork purposes.

For more information, or to mail your submission:

Linux Open Source Sound CD
Access Space
1a Sidney Street
Sheffield
S1 4RG
0114 2495522
www.access-space.org
loss@access-space.org

Access Space is UK registered charity no: 1103837

Call for papers
 EMS05 - Electroacoustic Music Studies. A century of innovation involving sound and technology - Resources, Discourse, Analytical Tools Scientific Committee

Marc BATTIER (MINT-OMF)
Joel CHADABE (EMF)
Philippe DEPALLE (McGill University)
Leigh LANDY (MTI  – De Montfort University)
Stephen McADAMS (CIRMMT/ McGill University)
Rosemary MOUNTAIN (Hexagram/Concordia)
Philippe DEPALLE (CIRMMT)
Jean PICHE (CCIRMT/UdeM)
Daniel TERUGGI (INA/GRM)
Marcelo M. WANDERLEY (CIRMMT/ McGill University)

Time and place: 19-22 October, 2005 – Montreal, Quebec, Canada
The EMS conference is organized every two years through the initiative of the Electroacoustic Music Studies Network, an international team which aims to encourage reflection on the better understanding of electroacoustic music and its genesis, appearance and development over the span of a century.  The organizers are all engaged in the key areas of debate and actively seeking the development of solutions.
The first conference, in October 2003, was a result of the initiatives of De Montfort University (UK),  the University of Paris-Sorbonne (France), and INA/GRM (France).   It took place at the Georges-Pompidou Centre in Paris, within the auspices of IRCAM’s Résonances 2003 festival.  Selected papers were published in issue 9/1 of Organised Sound.  

Organization of the EMS-05 conference
Concordia University (Canada)
De Montfort University (G-B)
Electronic Music Foundation (USA)
INA/GRM (France)
McGill University and CIRMMT (Canada)
Université de Montréal (Canada)
Université de Paris-Sorbonne (France)
 
Electroacoustic Music Studies Network
MTI (Leigh Landy, ElectroAcoustic Resource Site, MTI Research Group, De Montfort University)
INA/GRM (Daniel Teruggi)
MINT (Marc Battier, Musicologie, informatique et nouvelles technologies, OMF), Université de Paris-Sorbonne
 

The special theme of EMS-05 is:
Electroacoustic Music Studies – Sound in Multimedia Contexts

From the advent of the first electric instruments, the phonograph, radio, telephone, and subsequent electronic and digital inventions, the approaches to technologies relevant to the art of sound have been limited only by the imagination of the musician.  In recent years, there seems to have been a proliferation of studies relating to music incorporating these technologies.  However, the investigation of such a varied musical repertoire raises a number of issues that the EMS conferences wish to examine. The themes of the conference therefore emphasize questions of resources, discourse, and analytical tools relevant to electroacoustic musics.  
 
1) Sources and resources
- What types of materials are being or should be documented?
- How does one create, expand, preserve and offer access to collections?  
- What opportunities exist for exchange and collaboration?
- How can we help make the electroacoustic music repertoire more accessible?
 
2)  Discourse / analysis of electroacoustic musics
 - What types of discourse are relevant to electroacoustic works?
- Which forms of representation and which approaches to analysis are useful?
 - Which analytical methods are currently being developed?
- How can one adapt existent analytical methods of music to elec?troacoustic works, many of which involve no prescriptive notation?
- How can we further develop the field of study of electroacoustic musics?
 
3) Analytical tools
 - How are analytical tools being produced and disseminated in the community?
- What means are available for communicating the sonic form through symbolic and graphic representations?
- Does the study of electroacoustic musics require specifically-designed tools or can it take advantage of methods conceived for other musics?

4) Taxonomy, terminology, and aesthetic diversity
 - What systems of classification are in use or should be developed?
- How can we become more consistent in our use of terminology in a field as dynamic as electroacoustic music?
- Are there aesthetic questions that are specific to electroacoustic music?

 
Format for presentations:

Spoken presentations
 Proposals for spoken presentations should be submitted in the form of an extended abstract (minimum 2 pages) accompanied by a detailed C.V. and list of publications.  The abstract should be ready for publication if the proposal is accepted. The duration of each paper will be 30 minutes (not including the question period).  The papers may be given in English or French.  It is anticipated that simultaneous translation will be provided.  Multimedia support will be provided in the form of video projector (for laptops), overhead projector, CD player, and sound system.
 
A programme containing the paper abstracts will be distributed.

Posters
 Proposals for poster sessions are also invited; selected posters will be presented in the conference area at McGill University.  The deadline for poster proposal submissions is the same as that for paper submissions.
   
Dates
 19 October, 2005 – Opening of EMS-05 at the University of Montreal
20-22 October, 2005 – Conference sessions (McGill University) and concerts (Concordia University)

Guidelines for submissions
 Deadline for receipt of proposals (abstracts and CVs of contributors): Tuesday March 1, 2021
Submissions are to be made electronically.  Send abstract (in French or English, 2 pages maximum) + 1 detailed CV + a list of publications to the following e-mail address:  ems05-papers@music.mcgill.ca <mailto:ems05-papers@music.mcgill.ca> .  Please ensure that your name,  institutional / organizational affiliation (if any), contact address, telephone, and preferred e-mail address are included on the abstract.  

If your proposal is accepted, you will need to submit a brief 15-line biographical note to insert into the conference programme.

Publication
A selection of the papers will be published in Organised Sound (Cambridge University Press) in 2006.

EMS-05 Website
http://ems05.musique.umontreal.ca/index.html

Live Algorithms for Music Research Network
LAM is a new EPSRC funded Culture and Creativity research network. We are establishing a community of performers, composers, engineers and scientists whose aim is the development of artificial, but autonomous, musical collaborators. LAM believes that such a machine, able to interact creatively with musicians in real-time, and in any context, will have fascinating artistic potential, and could form the basis of the next generation of computer music applications.

Some research topics that have been outlined are:
Novel patterning algorithms from non-musical fields (e.g. evolutionary computation, a-life, swarm intelligence, chaos, dynamic networks, cellular automata, neural networks and machineconsciousness), Real-time music informatics, Models of creative interactivity and improvisation, Musician-computer interfaces and performativity.

Membership already includes prominent musicians and representatives from many of the above fields.New members/institutions are welcome to join and participate in our activities.

First Meeting 13th-14th Dec 2004, Goldsmiths College, London UK Programme: MARCEL mediated panel with US computer music luminaries, presentations on current research projects from LAM members, inter-disciplinary forum, practitioners’ experience of computer music, composers’ forum.

First Concert 14th Dec 2004, 19.30hrs, Recital Room, Goldsmiths College, London UK. An evening of improvisations with humans and their machines featuring John Bowers, Neil Hyde, Jonathon Impett, Sebastian Lexer, Eduardo Miranda, Chris Redgate, Roger Redgate, John Tilbury, Michael Young, The Swarm Granulator and many others.

Contact: info@livealgorithms.org

LAM website: http://www.livealgorithms.org



Call for Participation ICMC 2005
Free Sound International Computer Music Conference
September 5-9, 2005. Barcelona, Spain
http://www.icmc2005.org/

SUMMARY OF DEADLINES

Music, video, and installations -- February 5, 2021
Papers, posters, and demonstrations -- March 5, 2021
Panels, workshops and special events -- April 5th, 2005
Exhibitors -- June 5th, 2005

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

The Phonos Foundation, the Pompeu Fabra University of Barcelona, and the Higher School of Music of Catalonia in conjunction with the International Computer Music Association, is proud to announce ICMC 2005. The conference will take place in Barcelona, Spain, from the 5th to 9th of September 2005, with pre-conference workshops on September 1st and 2nd.

ICMC is the pre-eminent annual gathering of computer music practitioners from around the world. Its unique interleaving of professional paper presentations and concerts of new computer music compositions creates a vital synthesis of science, technology, and the art of music.

By choosing 'free sound' as this year's leitmotif, we aim to emphasise the idea of freeing sound from its current aesthetic, technical and legal confines. We wish to promote an open discussion on the extent to which sound is considered a community asset - an asset that belongs to society and cannot be privatised. Thus, we encourage contributions that emphasise these and related topics.

We invite original contributions in all areas of the computer music field in a number of formats. However, we are also open to any proposal, and encourage all submissions, including those that do not fit the categories below.

We issue the following calls:

* Call for music, video, and installations (deadline February 5, 2021)

We invite submissions of electroacoustic music, video, and installation works that reflect the diversity of the field. Opportunities exist to combine digital resources with a variety of instrumental ensembles. For further details visit
http://www.icmc2005.org/index.php?selectedPage=76


* Call for papers, posters, and demonstrations (deadline March 5, 2021)

We invite submissions for papers, posters, and demonstrations examining the aesthetic, compositional, educational, musicological, scientific, or technological aspects of computer music and digital audio. For further information visit http://www.icmc2005.org/index.php?selectedPage=73


* Call for panels, workshops and special events (deadline April 5th, 2005)

We invite proposals for panel sessions, workshops and special events, especially those with relevance to the conference theme of 'free sound'.

* Call for exhibitors (deadline June 5th, 2005)

The conference will provide a forum for the world's leading music technology companies to showcase their latest product information and for schools and institutions to highlight their educational programs. We invite submissions from interested parties.


To promote the idea of 'free sound', the organisers of ICMC 2005 are setting up the Free Sound Project, a website dedicated to the sharing and usage of copyleft [1] sounds. Thus, we are making a special call for copyleft sounds with no specific deadline. For more information, visit http://www.icmc2005.org/ in the near future.

For detailed information on the conference, and submission formats, visit
http://www.icmc2005.org/

To keep up to date with all of the latest news and information about ICMC 2005 please subscribe to our mailing list by visiting...
http://www.icmc2005.org/index.php?selectedPage=64

Splatt - World of Splatt

Recombinations www.recombinations.com

Here’s something you don’t often hear at the start of what you’ll find out is a positive review: You don’t need to buy this record. What? Why ever not? I hear you cry. Well sit tight and I’ll tell you that it’s because you can Blue Peter one out of thin air and plastic all by yourselves. This is what you’ll need: a large record collection (or an adult with a large record collection - you might want to ask your Mum and Dad to help) and a semi-functional multi-disc CD player, some wire and a tape recorder. For the CD player try local second hand shops. I saw one in Cambridge Resale for about 20 quid the other week. If your CD player is more than semi-functional, fuck it up by sticking a screwdriver into the back of it and gouging at whatever you can feel.

Once you’ve got all the stuff together, wire the CD player into the back of the tape recorder (you don’t need any speakers) load it with CDs and start it playing. If you’re really lucky you’ll have done enough damage that it’ll skip and malfunction enough to remake the Splatt album itself. If not, grind the screwdriver around a bit more and fiddle randomly with the remote control. An hour later, your very own Splatt record will be ready.

Except of course, your record will sound like shit while Splatt have managed to melange themselves a masterpiece and you’ll realise that to make a record out of bits of other people’s records is an art in itself and, even when it sounds as disjointed as this, there’s some method in the seeming madness. You’ll think of the times you’ve listened to a techno record at a club and thought you could do better (‘it’s all computer software, you only need to press a button and a 4-4 pounder drops out’) or listened to some manufactured pop on the radio and arrogantly assumed it was a piece of piss to make something that plastic and derivative and patently fake and you’ll begin to doubt whether you’re right.

Let me tell you: you aren’t. But that shouldn’t stop you trying. Splatt’s record is good, and while you don’t need to buy it, you should buy it, because what Splatt show you is that what’s art and music is not clear cut and you can create art and music yourself with whatever tools you have at hand. Only it might take you a while.

Reviewed by Jimmy Possession
Jimmy runs the acclaimed robots and electronic brains fanzine (http://come.to/robots) and djs on 209 radio (http://www.209radio.co.uk) every other Sunday. he  lives in Cambridge with his girlfriend, a fish and a rabbit.

 

Popular Electronics


Basta http://www.basta.nl/

Every now and then a CD comes along that is so beautifully packaged that it makes me forget that that I still lament the demise of the LP format and the gift that was the gatefold sleeve. Basta’s Popular Electronics is such a product. This is so much more than a mere four CDs of reissues of early electronic music from the Dutch Philips research laboratories, it is a Pandora’s box of books (seven in total), facsimiles of scores and reviews, a time chart and stickers. (and what can be better than a CD that comes with stickers!)

I must confess to having been somewhat ignorant of much of the work of Henk Badings, Kid Baltan and Tom Dissevelt before this set arrived. And 2 months down the road I am still coming to terms with the vision and technique of these composers. By and large I’m not much of a fan of commercially orientated electronic music, for that is much of what is included on the first disc, but the work here is deliciously fresh and immaculately crafted. Dissevelt’s vibration and syncopation from 1959 are masterclasses in the craft of electronic groove music, whilst Baltan’s even earlier and alleged “first ever popular electronic music” Song of the Second Moon is a work of sheer beauty.

Disc two is a foray principally into the concert and film music of Dick Raaijmakers with delights such as 1959, Tweeklank with Bachesque overtones at least the equal of Wendy Carlos, as well as the breathtakingly crisp pianoforte. The three tracks that end this disc are released here for the first time and are no less enticing. Disc three is a complete reissue of Dissevelt’s classic 1963 release, Fantasy in Orbit sounding all the better thanks to Kees Tazelaar’s immaculate remastering and the fourth CD is no less rewarding bringing together alternative versions of the classics in addition to source material and raw loops and textures.

This is an extraordinary set of music restored and presented with a passionate and disciplined attention to detail. Your Christmas list dilemmas are at an end.

Reviewed by Tim Steiner
Tim is a performer, workshop leader and presenter of the acclaimed, Sonic Arts Network, Resonance FM show, Big Ears.

 

Iris - Rosy Parlane

Touch http://www.touchmusic.org.uk/

The images contained in the packaging and notes for this CD are striking: trees encased in ice and snow in frozen blue light, crisp snow-clad cityscape, murky winter farmland, still water and ice covered windows. This imagery sets up all sorts of expectations, and upon listening it is apparent that the window dressing well suits the music that Rosy Parlane has created within.

Iris is organized into three parts. In the first, as is found in all three, organ-like tones emerge and are drawn out and woven into a very delicate and fluid drone-based texture, surrounded by a cracking exterior. Is a subsumed frozen breath there as well? Eventually, a glitch-based icy rain emerges and engulfs the music, occurring in varying showers and pierced by single pedal of drone. This is a single trajectory and long evolution of music – very engaging frozen and shimmering sound. In particular there is some very beautiful high frequency content.

Part two is the least rich of the three, consisting of much more static pitch drones, with a rough exterior. There is more physical gestural sound here and movement in the distance: a stirring of activity in the static landscape. A sudden cut away as well as a gradual evolution in layers of texture arrives at a single fluttering tone and gradually a more complex and rich collection of sounds come together: resonant twitching.

In the final part rich, resonant, fluid and bold organ-drones herald the onset of additional crisp and frozen sound worlds, with more physical sounds in counterpoint and other complex layers in the background or distance. A sudden shift and the icy drops return, of a different quality then before – more punctuated, regular and pulsing. They lead to the sudden resolution of a world that has gradually unveiled its hidden secrets.

Iris is rich in detail and draws you in: directly and honestly. This is music that is both microscopic and alludes to a larger and more substantial soundworld and process.

This is a cold weather music. Perhaps I was swayed by the CD cover. But there is a freezing digital rain falling outside. I think I'm going to stay out there for a while longer.

Reviewed by David Berezan
David Berezan is a composer living in Manchester, where he is Lecturer and Director of the Electroacoustic Music Studios at the University of Manchester.