[Moshe]

http://www.thevillager.com/villager_...cebetween.html

TEXT OF LIGHT
DJ Olive (turntables), Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht (guitar)With projections from the Anthology Film Archives
April 29 at 10 p.m.The Stone
Corner of Avenue C and 2nd St.
($10; thestonenyc.com)

 

Photo by Andy Moor

Lee Ranaldo, DJ Olive, and Alan Licht create an experimental music performance

The space between film and sound

Text of Light illuminates under the radar movies

By David Todd

It’s fitting that Text of Light perform with the avant-garde films of Stan Brakhage and Harry Smith as a backdrop, because the lineage among these experimental artists is so clear. In a sense, musicians like Lee Ranaldo (of Sonic Youth) and Alan Licht—the two constants in this otherwise-shifting ensemble—will always play with a series of scratches and blurs strobing across them from the heyday of the Anthology Film Archives. But it also makes sense that the group doesn’t set out to score these films, which were mostly conceived of as silent, but rather respond to them in the interest of making some of their own freeform improv. Taking their name from the Brakhage film screened at their first concert in 2001, Text of Light shift in performance from guitar noise to fields of cinematic color, phasing in and out of harmony with the projection.

Text of Light’s upcoming show at The Stone unites guitarists Ranaldo and Licht with one of their primary partners in the project, turntablist DJ Olive (other regulars not featured include Christian Marclay, Ulrich Krieger, and Tim Barnes). The Brooklyn-based Olive seems like a natural for this group, not only for his vocabulary as a club DJ (ambient, dancehall, dub, Latin) but also for the ease with which he’s collaborated with artists ranging from Ikue Mori to Christian Fennesz.

I spoke with Olive (otherwise known as Gregor Asch) about the show at The Stone, where Text of Light will perform to a film that, not surprisingly, has yet to be determined.

What do you think is so lasting about Brakhage and musicians from that time like La Monte Young?

I think there was something about the time and place that can not be translated. In the 60s, with the preconceptions about what we thought sound and film should do and how they should behave, those guys were taking those assumptions and rearranging them. So instead of just using film in the normal way, Stan Brakhage would make prepared film or expose it in a way that wasn’t really meant to be done. And I think La Monte Young was taking what we’re comfortable with, even in an avant-garde sense, and stretching that. And there’s a kind of punk element, I would say, that Brakhage approached the technology with, like poking holes in the film, which was a very punk attitude toward the material. And that’s how I think Text of Light approaches the sound.

In addition to punk, are there connections between Brakhage and electronic music you see as a DJ?

Definitely with an electronic-music sensibility you have different kinds of colliding information, almost like a fugue, where you have multiple voices happening simultaneously. I find that interesting in Stan Brakhage’s work and I think it ties into what a lot of electronic musicians now are doing, like in the sort of laptop world. Since like 1998, when the technology really changed, I think there’s a way that the technology is affecting how we think of narrative, so there can be multiple narratives happening at once, in an abstract sense. I think Stan Brakhage and a lot of those guys were deconstructing that narrative.

Are Text of Light open to some of the basic structural devices Brakhage used?

Yeah, even though we’re improvising, there is an element of us trying to figure out how to have a beginning or a middle or some kind of landscape to the improvisation, some sort of shape. I hear a lot of improvisers talk about shape and I think that relates a lot to those early prepared-film guys. I can see a shape they were after—rather than narrative having an explanation, it has a shape, without a moralistic ending.

Do you feel like there’s like a ghost member of this group, being these films?

Oh yeah, definitely. I think there’s a sort of X-factor the film adds that’s not really quantifiable but definitely has an effect. And if you took it out of the equation and just had us play by ourselves it would be a radically different experience. It’s not really clear, but the film is having an effect.

It’s like the motivation without necessarily dictating the action?

Yeah. Also, in terms of vibe, which is kind of a weird word, it’s setting a kind of vibe in the room. Because when you have a film, you’re already transferring the vibe away from a stage with some musicians on it. You’ve got this thing projected on the wall, so the audience has their mind split between, “should I be looking at the film?” and “should I be looking at Lee Ranaldo tweaking his guitar?” So I think that already works to loosen you from your preconceived idea of what you were going to get out the experience. And within a few minutes, whether it’s five or ten, a space opens up between the film and music, or between how you’re supposed to consume an experimental film and how you’re supposed to consume an experimental music performance. But then another space opens up, which is more about your own meditation. And I find that really interesting.

[Moshe]

http://terrismusicblog.blogspot.com/...ght-42908.html

John Zorn's Cobra + Text of Light 4/29/08


I had to get some experimental in before I get to some regular awesome music at jazzfest. I was in quite a different world tonight.

Right before they started playing at Roulette, some of the musicians were tuning up for a few moments at the same time. It already sounded excellent and I knew I was in for a special treat. I'm so glad I thought to make a reservation as most or all of the people seemed to have one. There were lots of seats, but there were also several people standing, kind of like at the ABB shows at The Beacon. There were probably 100+ people there.

It was a benefit for Roulette, which has existed for 30 years. Zorn debuted Cobra in 1984 there. I knew it was some kind of game, and expected lots of improvising, but that was about all I knew. Oh, I also knew that all of the artists were great great musicians who've been AROUND the block in the improvising realm.

It was really cool. It reminded me of Butch Morris, but the musicians were leading a lot of the calls. They would raise their hands and if Zorn acknowledged them, they could give the signals for what they wanted to happen. It was all improvised, just the structure was somehow directed. There were also many times where one of them would put on a headband and then start playing. Zorn would put on a hat every time, and then take it off to signal that the headband-wearer was supposed to stop playing and take off the headband.

It was wild and a lot of fun to watch. It also sounded excellent. There were times where he would keep pointing around the room and everyone would play something for just a moment. I can't describe it that well, but it was really cool.

I had to do some surfing on this, and here's some stuff I came up with:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cobra_(Zorn)

http://www.omnology.com/zorn05.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1m1pjR1AQbc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgM3T75rNk8

http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=john_zorn

The artists:
John Zorn
Zeena Parkins
Jim Staley
Ikue Mori
Sylvie Courvoisier
Mark Feldman
Okkyung Lee
David Watson
David Weinstein
Shanir Blumenkranz
Kenny Wolleson
Eyal Maoz
Annie Gosfield

I definitely have to see more of Zeena Parkins. I see her listed at The Stone a lot, but hadn't seen her play until tonight.

I wanted something else after that. It was over at about 9:20. That means I have just enough time to walk over to The Stone for the 10pm show, whatever that is. I took my time, even stopping at McNally Robinson, this awesome bookstore on Prince St. I'm starting to plan a trip to Germany, and especially Berlin. I thought "maybe they have a good book on Berlin". I couldn't believe it when I noticed a display with several books on Berlin, sitting there waiting for me. My intuition was in full swing!

I made it to The Stone right at 10, and there were people in line waiting for them to open the doors. Not a lot of people, but it was still wierd. I decided I wanted to be surprised and didn't ask who was playing. I must admit I was a little worried because it seemed the people attending were mainly young hipsters. What was I in for? I walked in and paid my $10, sat in my usual front row center seat, and noticed a screen and projector set up. Uh oh, what was I in for? I felt a little better when I saw 2 electric guitars plugged in. There was also a turntable/dj setup. Hmm.

They came up from downstairs around 10:15. It was DJ Olive and 2 very different guitar players and old, like 1929-1940 experimental films. It reminded me of Space during a Greatful Dead show, only spacier. These guys were playing guitars with bows and sticks and holding them up to the amp. And, I was into it. Not out of my mind into it, but I wasn't bored and was interested in seeing what was on the screen or watching what the musicans were doing. It was very mellow, though and I also felt like sleeping. I think one guy did fall asleep. It was interesting and very different.

10 pm
Text of Light
DJ Olive (turntables) Lee Ranaldo, Alan Licht (guitar)
With projections of early experimental films

Yeah, I'm ready for some good old funky music and whatever else I run into for the next few days!

[tesla69]

Amazingly, I was the first person in line at 9:30, when they opened up there were no more than a dozen people waiting outside, while more showed up the venue wasn't much more than half full at most I think. I took my spot in the 2nd row and had a great view of the screen, then the band came up, then this guy with a huge fathead sat down right in front and suddenly I couldn't see much of the screen. The images I did see were really cool, they were using various experimental films from the 20's and 30's, and the musicians seemed to somewhat adjust their sounds to somewhat reflect the images or movement on the screen, for instance large masses of seaweed waving in the current were matched by large wails of distortion by Lee. It took 'em 10 minutes to get into it, i thought, but then my attention was fully engaged by the trio for the next 40. Nicely done. In addition to the Stone benefit Cds, they also had some copies of Lee's latest chapbook and also copies of the CD of the threelobed boxset, although I can't recommend the boxset high enough.

[barnaclelapse]

Wish I could have been there.

Richmond kind of sucks in that regard.

[tesla69]

Jump on the Amtrak mate! Early show, you can catch a late train back...

Text of Light are listed on the Knitting Factory site:
SAT Jun 28
http://www.knittingfactory.com/
6:30 PM

[jon boy]

thanks once again moshe.