Nice capture of our Sheffield set from March at Bank Street Arts. Each of us labouring under our preferred descriptions. Thanks to Richard Moran for filming.
Long String instrument on PS2N
Excellent episode of PS2N, digital TV coming out of Sheffield which features various scenes with the 50 metre plus string instrument Sam Andreae and myself built there as part of our residency at the Penthouse in September/October 2014.
London gig from December
Nice recording from the Cafe Oto gig with Andrew, Otto and Colin from back end of last year. There’s a couple of recordings in the works too from the session we did with Sam Weaver during the same week as this tour.
New Tape
Splendid new tape available of my duo with Otto Willberg documenting a live set recorded in Brooklyn in March of last year. “a young man and a middle aged man alive in New York” Short run of tapes:: I will have some copies with me on the trio tour with Rogier and Colin in March
Madlab Accelerator
Super excited that my ongoing sound.light.circuit.art project Noise Orchestra with Vicky Clarke has been chosen to take part in this amazing looking accelerator programme at Madlab in Manchester. We are going to be working with a great bunch of artists, mentors and Madlab folk developing our Noise Machines to the next place. Lots to come in the next few months!
See more here http://accelerator.madlab.org.uk/participants
Vernacular Recordings
Some exciting news; I’ve decided to start a small record label dedicated to releasing improvised musics from and to do with Manchester.
The first two releases will be available at the beginning of March.
Richard Scott’s Lightning Ensemble +Jon Rose Auslanders: live in Berlin VR001/SA006
Recorded live at Ausland in June 2015 track 1 features the core Lightning Ensemble trio: Richard Scott (analogue synths), Phillip Marks (percussion) and David Birchall (guitar). On track 2 they are joined by legendary Australian improvisor Jon Rose on violin. This is a joint release with Berlin’s Sound Anatomy label.
David Birchall/Colin Webster Gravity Lacks VR002
Solos and duos for electric guitar and tenor saxophone recorded at Long White Cloud in London, May 2015.
Releases are on CD with handprinted letterpress sleeves in editions of 100.
More details to follow soon!
Space Food 14th January
Looking forward to this my first gig of the year.
“Space Food is a new group in which three fine Manchester improvisers take on the format of the traditional organ trio; Adam Fairhall on organ, Johnny Hunter on drums and Dave Birchall on guitar. The organ trio is still a rarity in free improvisation, despite the rich timbral possibilties of the instrumentation. Space Food exploit the sonic potential to the full, from wriggly, scratchy lines to room-filling, vibrating, sustained sounds. Sometimes the tradition of organ combos will put in an appearance, and a funky groove will form, before being brutally demolished.”
It will happen at The Noise Upstairs, Fuel, Withington, Manchester from 8:30pm
Live at Over the Top
From the second gig we did on the tour mid December. A nice set live from the conservatory at Mick’s. We did a great days recording in Stockport the day before this which will see the light of day sometime in 2016.
Metaguitar 1
Began work a few months ago putting together a very loose assemblage of parts that maintains the structural features of electric guitar while amplifying the possibilities I find most interesting on the instrument further. Namely; the ability to amplify and make microphonic large surface and the ability to pinpoint on pickup sounds.
An example of it in use here in trio with THF Drenching & Rodrigo Constanzo
https://thfdrenching.bandcamp.com/album/fluorescent-penetrant-inspect
Ideas for Metaguitar 2 meanwhile are in the pipeline.
As with many projects I undertake, Harry Partch is never too far from the back of my mind http://www.harrypartch.com/#!instruments/csqv
striking uncomfortable poses while discussing the nature of power
Just had a re listen to this piece I made in our old place anew. 3 improvisations sculpted into a piece based on watching the same 6:51 youtube video of Chomsky and Foucault from Dutch TV in 1971 as compositional guidance.
I attempt to work on a daily basis with Alexander Technique, something I’ve done over the past few years. One of the things it makes you think about is how you and other people hold postures and how bodies are used in daily life. Both Chomsky and Foucault get themselves into some pretty uncomfortable positions in this debate. Guess its due to the nature of discussing power post 1968 or just very uncomfortable TV furniture!
David Birchall 