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Alliance for Improvised Music |
PREVIEW
Bablicon
with Movietone & Volcano the Bear
November 14, 2000*Bablicon*
Bablicon are a trio based in Chicago who combine elements of experimental composition, jazz, improvisation and rock music into a sound that is both diverse and cohesive. They have performed in America and Europe, playing with a variety of artists and in a variety of venues, including places like The Hot House (chicago), The Knitting Factory, Tonic (NYC), etc...
Dave McDonnell plays saxophone, clarinet, electric piano, theremin and live electronics. He graduated from DePaul with a B.A. in composition and has his works performed often in Chicago. He has also collaborated with musicians from many backgrounds, including rock bands like The Olivia Tremor Control, Japanese pop star Kahimi Karie and jazz legend Ken Nordine. Griffin Rodriguez plays upright and electric bass and live electronics. He has performed with a diverse selection of musicians as well, including Stereolab, The Olivia Tremor Control, Jeff Parker, Mars Williams and others. He is also a member of Toe 2000, another experimental outfit from Chicago.
Jeremy Barnes is a self taught musician, plays drums, electric piano and electronics, and is also a member of the internationally recognized band Neutral Milk Hotel.
Bablicon's recent cd, 'the orange tapered moon' has received college radio airplay on literally dozens of stations, including WFMU, WXYC, WNYU, KUSF, KALX and more. It also spent 6 weeks on the CMJ top 200, an astonishing feat for such a difficult record that was only serviced to 50 stations nationwide. Bablicon's sound constantly blurs genres, which is why they are often compared to other genre-crossing artists, such as Sun Ra, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and Soft Machine. They have released two full length albums, 'the orange tapered moon' and 'in a different city', with a third full length slated for spring 2001.
*Movietone*
Movietone are from Bristol and are made up of a variety of boys and girls (often changing), some of whom are/were members of the Flying Saucer Attack, Third Eye Foundation and Crescent.If they really must be labelled, I guess that that absurdly broad pigeonhole 'outrock' will have to suffice.
Movietone eschew classifications - 'Movietone are like Movietone' - although they're realists, don't deny their influences - 'we probably sound like loads of people'. 'We've never consciously made music to fit into any category, we're just making the music that we want. Classifications can work either way, they can draw people to you or they can draw people away, and therefore can be frustrating. Music should be able to stand in its own right with the band name as its classification.'
Movietone are obviously in love with sound - on the LP you'll find random thoughts spoken into a stop/start-clicking tape machine, free jazz clarinet blasts and weavings, can't-play-properly viola, someone winding a clock, and studio floor tap dancing. Movietone claim to take much of their inspiration from film (esp. Godard), art, writing and other influences. Musical influences include the Velvets (similarly multidirectional), German experimenters Can, Faust and Popol Vuh, wayward, one-off singer-songwriters Buckley and Drake, jazz innovators Coltrane and Mingus, and 20th century composers Cage and Stockhausen.
*Volcano the Bear*
Volcano the Bear are a quartet based in Leicester, England. They have never performed in America, so this is a rare and special occasion. They use a combination of clarinet, violin, guitar, electronics, percussion, voice, keyboards and theatrics to create a sound that is rooted in improvisation, folk music and free expression. Unlike Bablicon, they are mostly untrained musicians who rely more on instinct and emotion, rather than academics to create their beautiful, expressive sound.
They have released three full length recordings, with 'the one burned ma' being their first on an American label. Volcano the Bear's second full length was released on the United Dairies label, which is Stephen Stapleton/ Nurse With Wound's label, which virtually assures an interest from NWW fanatical fanbase. They also have a forthcoming collaboration with NWW coming out on United Dairies, to further cement this valuable connection.
--Jeff Stern
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