Esoteric review of an esoteric record.

"Jewels won’t come out clean using the gear in this way. Jewels will come out scratched." http://www.tinymixtapes.com/chocolate-grinder/listen-sult-lasse-marhaug-harpoon

March shows

Two times this week I have the rare privilege of playing somebody else’s music, those somebodies being Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir and Chris Duncan. Later in the month my main band Voicehandler has the pleasure of opening for John Chantler.


First, the big one:

Thu 3/23
John Chantler is a musician and organizer living in Stockholm, Sweden working with synthesizers, electronics and sometimes pipe organs to explore his own personalized compositional and improvisational strategies — working with and against the specific systems inherent in his chosen tools. https://vimeo.com/170416110

Voicehandler plays intuitive, incantatory music grounded in the most primitive and somatic instruments -- the voice and percussion -- juxtaposed with contemporary, disembodied electronics. We situate ourselves in our physical and social environment through our music. Our improvisations are shaped by their setting and context, and we use site-specific installations to more deeply experience spaces. We deconstruct song forms in relation to mythology and literature to explore our humanity and the shifting discourse surrounding it.

OMMO is an electro-acoustic duo comprised of Julie Moon and Adria Otte. Launched in 2014 with collaborative projects inspired by shared interests in Korean diasporic identity, ritual and impressionistic harmonies, the duo seeks opportunities to explore past traditions through a contemporary and conscious framework, employing varying configurations of piano, voice, violin and electronics in original compositions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi7JXtbmEyU

​LAND AND SEA, 5428 SAN PABLO, OAKLAND


And the two larger group shows, both this week:

Thu 3/9
Signal Flow at Mills College
- chris wood (Haas Gym)
- Kaori Suzuki (Chapel)
- Bergrún Snæbjörnsdóttir (Chapel)
- Isaac Otto (Chapel)
I’m playing Bergrún’s piece with Kyle Bruckmann, Marissa Deitz, John McCowen, Crystal Pascucci, and William Winant.
https://www.facebook.com/events/248251808956661/
http://www.signal-flow.org

Sat 3/11
Chris Duncan’s 12 SYMBOLS
1275 Minnesota St. San Francisco
8pm - 10pm (performance begins at 8:30 sharp)
12 SYMBOLS is an immersive sound performance that metaphorically implicates the energy and patterns of the sun and the moon.
12 SYMBOLS questions how we perceive and experience the passing of time through sound and vision.
12 percussionists stand in a large circle as if they were numbers on a clock.
performed by: Ashley Bellouin, Nicole Thomas, Christie Yuri Noh, Jen Belleville, Marcella Gries, Kevin Corcoran, Jacob Heule, Jason Leggiere, Aaron Harbour, James Cordas, Ben Bracken, and Christopher Duncan
—

Of course my two recurring series:

Tue 3/14 9:00 PM Uptown Nightclub [1928 Telegraph Ave Oakland]
Active Music Series presents:
- We Buy Gold (Glenn, Hoopes, Lopez, Rivero)
- Lion Creek
- Goldberg/Wong/Trammell/Anderson
https://www.facebook.com/events/175162322987226/

Sun 3/19 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation workshop in free improvisation)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1862994210642946/

—

NEW LP! Sult (Guro Moe, Håvard Skaset & me) mixed and chopped up by LASSE MARHAUG. https://sult.bandcamp.com/

Jacob Felix Heule, Aurora Josephson, & John McCowen on KZSU's Day of Noise

Live on the radio, Feb 4 2017.
(We're #13 on the playlist.)

Lasse Marhaug + Sult release “Harpoon”

A first-time collaborative LP of acoustic improvisers Sult (Håvard Skaset: guitar / Jacob Felix Heule: percussion / Guro Skumsnes Moe: contrabass) and Norwegian sound artist Lasse Marhaug. The source material is performed by Sult, while the album was constructed and produced by Lasse Marhaug. In the hands of Marhaug the already dense and visceral expression of Sult is transformed into a maelstrom of layered sheets of scraping noise, rising and collapsing simultaneously. Some listeners will place “Harpoon” in the proximity of artists like Organum, David Tudor and Ferial Confine, but the music carves its own place in the landscape. A joint release between Pica Disk and Conrad Sound, limited to 200 copies.

February shows

Three shows this month:

Fri 2/3
“Music 9:30 SHARP & over for last BART”
- Bran (...) Pos
- Ava Mendoza
- Lord Tang
- Tainted Pussy
- Voicehandler
- DJ Sarahellco

Sat 2/4 8am
KZSU Day of Noise
…
7:00 AM-8:00 AM - Jon Raskin & Kjell Nordeson
8:00 AM-8:30 AM - Aurora Josephson, John McCowen, & Jacob Felix Heule
8:30 AM-9:00 AM - Oa
…
http://kzsu.stanford.edu/dayofnoise/2017/

Fri 2/10
Pro Arts, Oakland (150 Frank Ogawa Plaza)
Hybrid Series: Jacob Wick Group *music* + Andrew Choate (poet)
The musicians are Jacob Wick (trumpet), Owen Stewart-Robertson (guitar), Kanoko Nishi-Smith (koto), Sandy Gordon (percussion), and Jacob Felix Heule (percussion). Jacob Wick, formerly of the Bay Area, is visiting from Los Angeles, and Sandy Gordon is visiting from NYC.
https://www.facebook.com/events/841853675956631/

—

Also my two recurring series:

Tue 2/14 9:00 PM Uptown Nightclub [1928 Telegraph Ave Oakland]
Active Music Series presents:
- Elective Infinities
- Larry Ochs/Donald Robinson duo
- Zachary James Watkins
https://www.facebook.com/events/1847740152150174/

Sun 2/19 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation workshop in free improvisation)
https://www.facebook.com/events/377178705972964/

January shows

Coming up this month Voicehandler plays a unique show on a boat in the San Francisco Bay, Beauty School celebrates a new cassette release, and Active Music Series pays tribute to Pauline Oliveros.


Sat 1/14. 7:00 and 9:00 PM. Pier 40, San Francisco.
Voicehandler will be playing on a yacht launching from Pier 40, San Francisco.
Attention! We’ve moved highlights the ongoing displacement of artists and cultural spaces by bringing audiences to a floating, itinerant version of an underground club.
Performances by Dynasty Handbag, Voicehandler, Kevin Blechdom, and International Freakout a Go-Go.
7–8:45pm cruise, tickets $35 each
9–10:45pm cruise, tickets $35 each
details and tickets: http://www.thelab.org/projects/2017/1/12/noiseclub

Sat 1/21, 7-10 PM
Adobe Books (3130 24th St, SF) free/donation
- Beauty School (Chandler, Djll, Heule) cassette release show!
- Owen Stewart-Robertson cassette release show!
- Collision Stories (Bachmann, Day, Gendreau, Jones)
https://www.facebook.com/events/1816645961908138/

Fri 1/27
Active Music Series presents a special tribute to Pauline Oliveros performed by sfSound and Rova Saxophone Quartet.
https://www.facebook.com/events/743623259128485/

—

Also my two recurring series:

Tue 1/10 9:00 PM Uptown Nightclub [1928 Telegraph Ave Oakland]
Active Music Series Presents:
- I SHOULD HAVE CUT THE EYES DIFFERENT
- Scott Amendola Trio
- Fibers + Kinda Green
https://www.facebook.com/events/146565815830651/

Sun 1/15 7:30 PM Temescal Arts Center [511 48th Street Oakland]
Doors That Only Open in Silence (open participation workshop in free improvisation)
https://www.facebook.com/events/243438456091740/

—

For a taste of what has been happening — and what is coming — here is some documentation of the Doors That Only Open in Silence crew playing two Pauline Oliveros works last month.
From Unknown Silences: https://soundcloud.com/jacob-felix/from-unknown-silences
Horse Sings From Cloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNU-nR6TnG8

Pauline Oliveros, "From Unknown Silences"

Large group of Doors That Only Open in Silence participants performing Pauline Oliveros' "From Unknown Silences" (1996).



2016 December 18 at Temescal Arts Center, Oakland.

Danishta Rivero - voice, Tom Djll - trumpet, Mika Pontecorvo - flute, Kersti Abrams - alto saxophone, John Ingle - alto saxophone, Lenny Gonzalez - cello, Andrew Jamieson - keyboard, Robin Hiroko Walsh - guitar, Jacob Felix Heule - percussion, Chris Christensen - electronics, Yacob - guitar, Matt Davignon - electronics, Hugh Behm-Steinberg - electronics

"From Unknown Silences is continuous variation on sounds. Each sound that each player makes is intended to be unique — different from all other sounds in the meditation."