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Monday at Noa Noa: Insect Factory, Public Speaking, Dig Deep Light Show w/ Live Improv Score 07-22-2013

Jul 202013

Insect Factory

The fifth installment in the Noa Noa Experimental Series is happening Monday, July 22nd, and this one is a doozy: Insect Factory, Public Speaking and Dig Deep Light Show w/ Live Improv Score.

The theme is “Mood Light: three acts altering mood with color and sound,” and it garnered a Critic’s Pick from Joe Nolan at the Nashville Scene:

Insect Factory’s music would be the perfect thing to listen to if I were writing this pick in a space station, generations removed from my earthbound ancestors, chronicling the aching edge of the species’ evolution into some wholly new thing as it hurtles toward an ever-more-unknowable end. Jeff Barsky is the man behind the project, and the densely layered, repetitive, droning tracks he creates are as surprisingly dynamic as they are pleasantly hypnotic. In addition to the Factory’s cosmic mood-making, this event at Noa Noa will include the soulful noise of Public Speaking. The band’s debut full-length Blanton Ravine is being talked up as a masterful meld of sound collage and sexy pop sensibilities. Tonight’s show should make clear whether Brooklyn artist Jason Anthony Harris and his bandmates are messing with a mismatched mash-up or connecting disparate elements to create something genuinely unique and lasting. Tonight’s festivities will culminate in a colorful light show by Dig Deep, featuring the projector magic of Scott Sanders and Dave Shambam. Their swirling spectrums will be accompanied by the live musical improvisations of Tim Carey, Alan Fey, Matt Hamilton, Mike Hiegemann, Craig Schenker and Chris Watts.

Joe did a wonderful job with the profiles of the performers. I just want to add one bit about Dig Deep Light Show. Members Scott Sanders and David Shambam will wash an entire side of the Noa Noa basement with vivid, hypnotic oil abstractions magnified on overhead projectors. Normally visual artists get relegated to making pretty backgrounds for live music. For this show, we wanted to flip the balance. In the most ambitious Noa Noa set up so far, a six piece orchestra featuring marimba, horns, synths and guitars will make improvised music to the visuals. The musicians will stand behind the audience. Yes, the visual artists get the spotlight for a change. We’ll be recording the improv for a future Theatre Intangible podcast. This show will be be one of the coolest things ever to happen in our basement. Because of the ambitious set-up, Dig Deep will probably go first, so make sure you arrive on time if you don’t want to miss the indoor fireworks show.

More info on the Facebook Event Page.

Insect Factory, Public Speaking, Dig Deep Light Show w/ Live Improv Score
Monday, July 22nd, 8:30pm, $5 suggested donation to touring bands

@ Noa Noa (house)
620 Hamilton Avenue, Nashville, TN 37203
BYOB. Park in front yard and surrounding business lots.

Call for Makers: Inaugural Nashville Mini Maker Faire – Sep 21st @ Adventure Science Center

Making No Responses »

Jul 182013

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I love making stuff. I’ve had a subscription to Make Magazine since issue #6, and every year I wish I had the funds to go to the Bay Area Maker Faire. Those of you who’ve attended the Circuit Benders’ Ball know how vital making is to experimental music culture.

I’m part of a local maker’s group called Make Nashville (which recently merged with HackNash). We’re one of the groups partnering with the Adventure Science Center to bring the Maker Faire to Nashville.

Yes, you heard correctly. Nashville is getting a Maker Faire. The Nashville Mini Maker Faire takes place on Saturday, September 21, 2013 from 10am to 5pm at the Adventure Science Center. (“Like” the Faire on Facebook here.)

The call for makers is now open, and we’re looking for exhibitors, speakers, teachers, performers and volunteers. Participating is absolutely free, but time is running out to submit. The application deadline is August 1st at 11:59pm.

As the Director of Performances, I’m seeking musicians, acting troupes, magicians, puppeteers, multi-media artist, science presenters, and pretty much anyone who has an act that happens on a stage. The performances NEED to involve making. If you’re a circuit bender or instrument designer, you’re golden. If you make your own costumes that show off your unique flair, we want you. In short, we’re looking for makers who perform.

The faire will be free and open to the public. Because our funding is limited, we are unable to compensate participants. That may change as the Nashville Faire expands in subsequent years.

if you’re interested in performing or any other form of involvement, go fill out an application. Do it now. The sooner the better.

Tonight at Third Man Records Light and Sound Machine: ICE 07-18-2013

Visual Arts, Where to find Nashville avant-garde No Responses »

Jul 182013

Heads up. The next installment of James Cathcart and Ben Swank‘s Light and Sound Machine experimental film series at Third Man Records is tonight.

Tonight’s film is ICE:

Directed by Robert Kramer, USA, 1970, presented on 16mm film

Guerrilla filmmaking in every sense, Kramer’s independent/underground, cinéma-vérité/science-fiction boundary-crosser used a budget of only $12,000 to produce an ambitious imagining of America in the throes of armed insurrection. The story is set in a vaguely defined future (which, à la Godard’s ALPHVILLE, looks just like the present) in which an unpopular U.S. war in Mexico provokes a left-wing uprising. Concerned with the nuts-and-bolts of revolutionary action and the debilitating effects of infighting among radical groups, ICE is in many ways the fictional equivalent of Chris Marker’s A GRIN WITHOUT A CAT. 16mm. (MR)

I pulled that quote from the Belcourt and Third Man sites. Tickets will be available at the Third Man door, but I recommend you buy in advance via the Belcourt website.

The Light And Sound Machine
Co-presented by Third Man Records and the Belcourt Theatre
Robert Kramer’s ICE
7pm, July 18th, 2013, $10 ($8 Belcourt members)
Third Man Records
623 7th Ave S – Nashville, TN 37203

Highlights from Summer NAMM 2013

Making, Off Topic No Responses »

Jul 132013

Z-Vex custom painted pedals.

I was able score a free pass to Summer NAMM today at the new Music City Center here in Nashville. Since I haven’t had a chance to explore the brand new convention center and I hadn’t been to Summer NAMM in a few years, I figured this was a convergence of opportunities.

Parking at the Music City Center was surprisingly hassle-free. The center is so huge, 6th Avenue actually runs underneath it. From 6th, I entered the ground-level lot and quickly found a space. The parking cost was only $6 today, but I believe it’s normally $12 for up to 8 hours.

As gargantuan as the center seems from outside, it’s actually a little underwhelming indoors. I was expecting Summer NAMM to expand to the space, but the convention used only half of the available exhibit floor. Summer NAMM 2013 seemed no larger than Summer NAMM 2010 at the Nashville Convention Center.

My friend Paul Horton and I walked all over the new facility, trying to find a way out to the grass-carpeted roof. The closest we could come was a windowed view (see picture below). Sadly, the coolest part of the new convention center appears to be permanently off-limits to convention goers.

I enjoyed my time at Summer NAMM 2013. Scroll down for my picture and video highlights.