Adventures of a Shoegaze Cellist
A video from My Bloody Valentine’s reunion tour. I really don’t have much to say about this, other than wow:
This is the song that blew my brain open when I first started listening to Loveless. One reviewer compared it to getting hugged by a friendly group of bees…a description I still find apt.
Edit: Great article about the MBV reunion in the New York Times.
A buddy of mine (adcBicycle) asked me to do a remix for him a while ago. Basically, he’d finished an album and didn’t like the results, so he asked several of his friends to remix his work.
Now he’s put all the remixes back together as a compilation album and it’s great! Includes remixes from He can jog, Autistici, mapmap, umami, allthatfall, and me (I’m at the end 
).
Thanks all to everyone who came to see us play last night! I had a great time playing solo and with Unrecognizable Now. And Clue to Kalo were awesome – I loved their harmonies and their songs.
Warts and all, here is my live set from last night for this month’s track of the month. I feel it’s a big improvement over my previous live sets – I have been working to vary my textures and playing much more, and I think my bowing has improved a lot.
[audio:ooray-5-21-08.mp3]
Download (23 Mb, about 23 minutes)
As always, this set is pretty much completely improvised on the fly. No prerendered loops, no nothing. Just me and my looper. Part of the challenge is organizing the material in an interesting way so the set has an overall shape. Here is a list of concepts that I came up with before I performed (sort of my own mini oblique strategies):
*Slow development
*Joy when possible (but earned)
*Detuning = confusion & ecstasy
*Darkness and Noise
*Channel Emotions and frustrations out
*Subvert Expectations
*Trust yourself to let go
*Tension & Release
*Contrasts
*Beautiful -> noisy -> chaotic -> relief
If you’d like to link to this set, please link to this post and not directly to the mp3. Thanks!
Added an up-to-date gigography page with links to everyone I’ve played with.
Compiling it is a nice way to wrap up 2007…I’ve gotten to play shows with lots of talented people last year and I’m looking forward to playing with much more people in the future!
Sorry for the delay…I’m trying Douglas Kerr’s new and improved contact form plugin. Let me know in the comments if there are any issues.
I’m working on the first movement of a Kummer Cello duet with my teacher right now (after working on much harder stuff, it’s a relief to play something, well, playable). While searching for a version to listen to, I stumbled upon Magnatune’s humble cello section.
Not too much there, but what you can stream it all online…some nice gems, including this release by Vito Paternoster doing Bach’s Solo Sonatas and Partitas for Violin on cello…quite wonderful. The low range of the cello really makes these pieces sound incredible. You pay what you like for the release – from a measly $5 on up (suggested payment is $8, you cheapskate!).
In celebration of the stress fest that is known as the winter holiday, I’ve decided to post a holiday drone. If you’re having a stressful holiday season, listen to my nondenominational drone and relax for a second. Aaaaahh, isn’t that better?
Track details: This was recorded as a single pass with cello, looper, and pitchshifter, with some time stretching.
I hope to release a free track a month. Sorry about the silence posting as of late – I have been having a crazy past few months, with work, biochem class, and all other sorts of distractions conspiring to keep me away from music.
[audio:00_holiday_drone.mp3]
Download
It’s been a while since I played a live show, but when it rains, it pours. I’m gonna do 3 shows in december, all pretty different…
December 6 – at p:ear gallery (809 SW Alder) – probably at 6 or 7 ish for first thursday
December 12 – Someday Lounge (125 NW 5th) – playing with Unrecognizable Now
December 17 – Someday Lounge – opening for Umami, The Positive Jam (Jim’s Band) and Demi Batard
I’m excited for the unrec now show…I have been playing cello with mapmap and matt these past few weeks and it’s been fun working on a piece to perform with them. It’s gonna start out drone-y and then get plinky (toy pianos and xylophones!) and droney again.
I’ve posted before about Kevin Shields’ soundtrack to the dance “2″ by dance troupe Lalala Human Steps. But I hadn’t seen any video of it performed before.
The following is a short, tantalizing youtube vid. I wish there were more.
Now, I have to admit that this is odd. But I love it. This from Darla:
On 11/13 Japancakes cover My Bloody Valentine’s classic Loveless record with pedal steel and cello in place of vocal & lead melodies – and without any distortion. A ballsy move for sure and it turned out great too. Super fun! Pre-order now. We’ll ship mail order customers early. And btw, if you’re a hater, this ain’t about you. It’s about the music. Love the music.
A little bird let me know that there’s a preview on their site:
Only Shallow (cover)
[audio:http://www.darla.com/promo/japancakesloveless/mp3/1.mp3]