February 2012 Shows
Posted 1 February 2012, 19:48
I have several interesting and fun live things coming up in February.
- Thursday 2012-Feb-02 @ The Starving Artist (10 West St., Keene, NH) 8pm $5 — this will be a solo electronics set, opening for Arborea
- Friday 2012-Feb-10 @ FOE Gallery (Northampton, MA) 6pm-9pm FREE — I’ll be playing bass and sundry devices with the Hornworm Revue
- Saturday 2012-Feb-25 @ Day 2 of XFest at 119 Gallery (119 Chelmsford St, Lowell, MA) 8:30pm FREE — Audrey Chen: cello, Dave Miller: drums, Steve Norton: reeds, Dave Seidel: electronics
- Sunday 2012-Feb-26 @ Day 3 of XFest 3:00pm FREE — Ouroborus (Bill Bacon: drums, Greg Kowalsky: visuals, Dave Seidel: electronics)
Common Misconceptions
Posted 10 January 2012, 19:01
I’m pleased to announce that Stomoxine Records has released Common Misconceptions by Doug Seidel and yours truly. Doug (who is my brother) came up to visit me in NH with his homemade modular synths, effects boxes and other stuff, and we spent a weekend playing and recording. We hope you enjoy the result. Also, make sure to go check out Doug’s music on SoundCloud.
Looking Forward to 2012
Posted 29 December 2011, 11:18
Some musical goals for the coming year, in no particular order:
- To play more mysterybear shows, not just in the local area but also in regions beyond northern New England. (Maybe Colorado? Maybe upstate NY? Maybe a little tour?) Closer to home, I’d like to get down to Western MA at least a couple of times, and up to Maine.
- To play more Ouroboros shows with Bill Bacon and Greg Kowalsky and if possible book some studio time for some high-quality recordings.
- To put together an experimental music show here in Peterborough (or nearby).
- To see both releases my brother Doug and I made this past year come out.
- To make a second mysterybear CD release, this time with an established (small) label.
- To make at least one new mysterybear release on a third-party netlabel.
- To put out at least one new release on the mysterybear netlabel.
- To play a duo with Bob Hubbard
- To play a duo with Andy Kivela
- To play with Dave Kontak on his new project.
- To play with the next incarnation of Sisters and Brothers.
Tags
Looking Back at 2011
Posted 27 December 2011, 11:59
It’s been a very productive year. In fact, I’m pretty surprised at what how much got done, mainly by accepting opportunities as they arose.
Performances
I did a lot of live shows playing improvised electronics with no keyboard or laptop. Friendly venues, particularly The House Of Goings On in Manchester (NH) and 119 Gallery in Lowell (MA), provided playing opportunities and many new friends, allies and collaborators. In the end I played 18 shows over the course of the year at a great set of venues (in chronological order): Toadstool Books, BUOY, The House Of Goings On, 119 Gallery, Flywheel, The Stone, The Purple Barn, Opensound, Albany Sonic Arts Collective, The Red Door, The Zoloft, Chailey Mansion, and The Flopera House.
A performance high point of the year: Mary Jane Leach was nice enough to invite me to share her gig at The Stone on June 12, which happens to be both her birthday and mine.
I made a practice of recording as many shows as possible. All the recordings that I’m happy with have been posted to SoundCloud where they are available as individual tracks and also collected in the following set:
The Left-Hand Path by mysterybear
I also made several improvised pieces at home, several of which I submitted to various sessions of the great ImprovFriday project:
At Home: 2011 by mysterybear
Compositions
I also wrote and/or published a number of composed (as opposed to improvised) works, which I make using Csound (usually with blue) on a laptop. These pieces are collected in the following set:
Composed: 2011 by mysterybear
Releases
Only one netlabel release this year (on someone else’s netlabel, that is), but it’s one I’m very pleased with: Complex Silence 12. I’m flattered that Complex Silence 12 was listed as a notable release for the year by both David Nemeth and C. Reider. Track one (Gyre II) was also accepted into the Disruptive Stillness exhibition at University of Michigan in January.
I participated in two other netlabel releases/projects:
- The More Unknown C. Reider includes my track Deep Structure
- Dystimbria includes my track Disrhythmia
I dipped my toe into the ocean of netlabel publishing with the first two releases on my own netlabel:
- garage drone + remixes (for which I enlisted a number of people to provide remixes of a noisy track I’d made in the summer of 2010)
- Following A Line (a pair of improvisations recorded at home)
I decided to re-release Sublimation (originally a CD-R, then a NetNewMusic netlabel release) on Bandcamp and actually sold a few copies.
Collaborations
I collaborated, actively and passively, with several people in the course of the year:
- Doug Seidel and I got together for two weekend sessions at my house. The results yielded two upcoming releases: one from the “Stoxomine” netlabel (coming 15 January 2012) and one from Mike Barrett’s cassette label (release date unknown).
- Andrea Bonino’s Fan Fiction incorporates my track “A Bowl Full of Void” on track one.
- I performed with Mary Jane Leach, Walter Wright, and two-thirds of Sylphid.
- Participation in the Dystimbria project (see above) is collaborative by definition.
- Ouroboros (see below).
Ouroboros
Bill Bacon, Greg Kowalsky and I formed a band called Ouroboros and played our first few gigs. I’m really looking forward to bringing this project further into fruition in the new year.
Reviews
I was fortunate to have gotten a few very nice reviews around the web:
- Marc Weidenbaum at Disquiet reviewed Following A Line and Particle Decay
- David Nemeth at acts of silence reviewed Complex Silence 12 and A Bowl Full of Void
Finally, it was very nice to be selected as SoundClouder of the Day on August 25. Thanks, guys!
All in all, it was a very gratifying year, and I’m hoping for another one in 2012. I hope that I didn’t forget anyone or anything, but if I did, I’ll revise this post as necessary.
Tags
100 Notable Netlabel Releases of 2011
Posted 23 December 2011, 10:47
I am happy to note that Complex Silence 12 was included in 100 Notable Netlabel Releases of 2011 on the acts of silence blog. Also great to see many friends and allies here such as Alan Morse Davies, Auzel, C. Reider, Le Berger, and Mystified, among others.
I’m also delighted to have been involved in two other entries on this list:
- Le Berger’s great track Cheptel éparpillé, which deservedly takes the #1 spot, incorporates parts of my track Disrhythmia (they are both part of C. Reider’s “Dystimbria” project).
- One of the tracks on Andrea Bonino’s Fan Fiction uses A Bowl Full of Void as its basis. I recommend the entire release, really good stuff.
Thanks to David Nemeth for all the work he does to promote netlabels!
Updated on 2011-12-23 to include a mention of Fan Fiction.
Review: Upload Through The Red Door
Posted 8 October 2011, 08:26
Marc Weidenbaum just published a very nice essay on Disquiet in which he reviews my latest track on SoundCloud.
Tags
SoundClouder Of The Day
Posted 25 August 2011, 16:33
I’m thrilled that I was selected as today’s SoundClouder Of The Day — it’s quite an honor. Welcome to new visitors to this site. I haven’t been updating very often, mainly because it’s been so convenient to use my SoundCloud page. But I plan to start posting here more often as well, and am also beginning to think about a re-design (it’s been quite a while).
Thanks, SoundCloud!!
Cetacea
Posted 11 April 2011, 17:22
This is my live set from Saturday April 9, 2011 at the House Of Goings-On in Manchester, NH. I was fortunate to accompanied by live video projections from Greg Kowalski, whose work is wonderful and unique — thanks, Greg! And big thanks to Marc Bisson and Dei Xhrist for being great hosts.
In Cetacea (live at HOGO, 2011-04-09) by mysterybear
Equipment used:
- Behringer Eurorack UB1202 mixer
- Auduino drone synth1 to Digitech Grunge pedal to Moogerfooger ring modulator to Boss volume pedal to Screaming Demon wah pedal into mixer channel 1
- My cool new Drone Lab V2 to Boss Metal Zone into mixer channel 2
- FM3 Buddha Machine (Chan Fang) into mixer channels 7/8
- effects loop: E-H Deluxe Memory Man with Hazarai to E-H Holy Grail Plus
- amp: Roland D-Bass 210
1 made by Doug Seidel
Tags
auduino, buddha machine, drone lab, hogo, improvisation
Calling Down The Moon
Posted 21 March 2011, 17:48
This is my live set from Sun Worship 8, a series curated by Josh Baker that is scheduled to coincide as closely as is practical to the equinoxes and solstices. It took place at BUOY Gallery in Kittery, Maine on Saturday March 19, 2001, the night of the supermoon and the night before the vernal (spring) equinox.
Calling Down the Moon (live at BUOY Gallery, 2011-03-19) by mysterybear
Equipment used:
- Behringer Eurorack UB1202 mixer
- Auduino drone synth1 (to) Digitech Grunge pedal (to) Moogerfooger ring modulator (to) Boss volume pedal (to) Screaming Demon wah pedal into mixer channel 1
- MP3 player containing field recordings of wolves and The Tambouras of Pandit Pran Nath into mixer channels 5/6
- Buddha Machine FM3 into mixer channels 7/8 (I had an FM2 hooked up as well, but it didn’t work)
- effects loop: E-H Deluxe Memory Man with Hazarai (to) Boss RC-2 looper
- amp: Roland D-Bass 210 with powered extension cabinet (in sub-woofer mode)
1 made by Doug Seidel
Tags
auduino, buoy, doug seidel, drone, improvisation, supermoon, vernal equinox
Complex Silence 12 released
Posted 27 February 2011, 11:09
Two previously unreleased tracks of binaural drone music, #12
in the Complex Silence series curated by Philip Wilkerson on the
Treetrunk netlabel. This music was made with Csound and blue. The artwork is by Philip Wilkerson.
From the liner notes: “These pieces both employ the technique of binaural beating, and are thus most effective if you listen with headphones. Gyre II is made with nothing but sine waves, and is dedicated to ELEH. It was premiered as part of the “Disruptive Stillness” exhibition that took place at Jean Paul Slusser Gallery of the University of Michigan School of Art & Design in Ann Arbor, January 2011. The concept behind Ylem is the emergence of sound from the creative void – starting simply, growing in complexity, and finally returning to the void from whence it came.”
Thanks to Phil Wilkerson for all of his work.