Anomalous Warmth showcases experimental music from some of the most forward-thinking performers. Running the gamut from free-jazz to prog-rock, the series aims to assemble disparate lineups that share the common thread of improvisation and sonic innovation.
Saturday, November 26, 8pm
$10 at the door.
Den Svarta Fanan
Drawing from the playing field of no-wave, hardcore punk, free improvisation, and what may only be deemed ‘Heavy’ music, Den Svarta Fanan summons a music anew. Conceived as an audio therapy session for overcoming social anxiety, Den Svarta Fanan consists of Nonoko Yoshida, Joe Merolla, Weasel Walter, & Ron Anderson. With a nod to nasum as their namesake heeds, this band of veterans and young minds contradictorily conjure up a grand sense of serenity, wherein the listener can sit back, relax, and let procession of the daily grind pass them by with that rare kind of grin of affirmation; knowing, understanding, embracing the finer moments of human progress… Lou Reed & Metallica? What next, John Zorn makes a Christmas record?
Mike Pride’s From Bacteria to Boys
Mike Pride’s From Bacteria to Boys has gone through numerous line-up changes since its formation in 2005, and Pride has now created a permanent quartet that performed together for the first time in February, 2009 at Issue Project Room. Pride is known for his ability to work across a seemingly limitless number of genres and styles – he’s worked with artists ranging from Anthony Braxton to Boredoms to Millions of Dead Cops – and this quartet embraces Pride’s eclecticism. Inspiration for Betweenwhile, their October 2010 album on Aum Fidelity, came from R. Kelly (the album title is a phrase taken from Kelly’s epic Trapped In The Closet) as much as it did Miles Davis’ Milestones and new experimental musics. “I wanted a band that would take the most complex, abstract, esoteric and simple concepts at all times,” Pride claims, “and make an overall sound that was natural.” Saxophonist Darius Jones, pianist Alexist Marcelo and bassist Peter Bitenc have worked with Trevor Dunn, Nate Wooley, Jim Black, Weasel Walters, Daniel Levin, and Jon Irabagon, to name only a few.
Thoughtful Arthur is a group lead by Baltimore-born saxophonist and composer, Eric Trudel. This group is both a compositional and improvisatory project, seeking to explore the creation of compositions that inspire improvisation. Thoughtful Arthur includes several close musical acquaintances from Baltimore, as well as several newer collaborators. Members of the group have performed or recorded with Michael Formanek, Mary Halvorson, Dave Ballou, Darcy James Argue, Ellery Eskelin, and others. All members of Thoughtful Arthur are now based in Brooklyn, New York.
Meticulously balancing a thin line between melody and chaos, Daphne Du Maurier has a penchant for jagged angles and gradually expanding mazes of sound that obfuscate the boundaries of composition and improvisation. A brutal and muscular document, Their first album captures the raw energy the power trio has nurtured through intense live shows and demanding group development.
Eivind Opsvik and Aaron Jennings come from disparate backgrounds. Jennings says, “I always thought it was an interesting story that I’m from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Eivind is from Oslo, Norway, and we somehow teamed up to work on this project.” They each bring different cultural and musical identities to the band. Jennings describes himself as, “A guitar player and songwriter with an interest in software tricks, rock & roll from the 60s and 70s, and experimental music,” while Opsvik plays bass with some of the biggest names in experimental jazz, such as Mat Maneri, Paul Motian, David Binney, and Bill Frisell. Opsvik also runs the Brooklyn-based Loyal Label.
On their latest release; A Dream I Used To Remember (2009), multi-instrumentalists Eivind Opsvik and Aaron Jennings create lush instrumental songs that owe as much to the influence of electro rock and folk rock as they do to minimalism and classical music. Their unique arrangements might feature a guitar tone that sounds like it was pulled from a Byrds record, while an echo of a Richard Strauss horn fanfare plays a melody over a rhythm section of pointillist upright bass playing and in the pocket rock drumming. The effect is a transportation to a timeless period where vintage sounds and folk melodies meet modern recording concepts.
