[microsound-announce] May 22 at NK - 22:00 VOLCANO THE BEAR / HARMONY MOLINA

[lists at nkprojekt.de]

Sorry for x-posting


Elsenstr. 52/
2.Hinterhaus Etage 2
12059 Berlin Neukölln
0049(0)17620626386



Wednesday May 22 2013 22:00
VOLCANO THE BEAR / HARMONY MOLINA

VOLCANO THE BEAR (Volucan / Beta-Lactam Ring, New York / Glasgow)

http://www.facebook.com/volcanothebear
http://volcanothebear.bandcamp.com/

Excerpt from the new album GOLDEN RHYTHM / INK MUSIC on RUNE GRAMMOFON:
http://soundcloud.com/rune-grammofon/volcano-the-bear-buffalo

Volcano The Bear have, in the words of The Wire magazine, “produced
some of the finest, wildest British music of the last 10 years on
record and on stage…”. Or, as Losing Today puts it, “No one sounds,
has sounded, or will ever sound quite like Volcano the Bear.” They are
one of experimental music’s best kept secrets.

A calculatedly hysterical melting pot of This Heat, Robert Wyatt,
Faust and The Residents, musique concrète and ethno-folk, all seen
through a prism of occasionally theatrical improvisations and unhinged
set pieces.

Formed in 1995, and after several self-released tapes & cdrs, VTB so
excited Nurse With Wound’s Steven Stapleton that he brought his United
Dairies label out of cold storage to release their first album proper,
‘The Inhazer Decline’, in 2000.

Since then, they’ve released music on such labels as Misra,
Beta-Lactam Ring, Textile, Digitalis, Pickled Egg, Alt Vinyl, and
No-Fi as well as their own imprints Volucan & Volfurten. On record,
Volcano The Bear offer stark and stunning absurdities, in the most
bizarrely beautiful way. VTB live is the duo of Daniel Padden & Aaron
Moore (third member, the rarely seen but often heard Clarence Manuelo
no longer performs live, but his inimitable sounds and influence are
still very much a part of a VTB performance). In their unique, often
chaotic live shows, the adrenalin and invention drips from their
earlobes as they thrust spectacular oddities in the faces of their
audiences, always aided by their sublime multi-instrumentalism. Live
collaborations have included performances with Canadian film maker &
improvisor Michael Snow and Swedish free jazz legend Mats Gustafsson.

Aside from their work in Volcano The Bear the members are constantly
busy with other projects. Padden’s much-heralded group ‘The One
Ensemble’ explores an experimental chamber-folk soundworld, and he
regularly creates music for film and theatre. He has recorded several
solo albums, and has performed with Glasgow Improvisers Orchestra,
Bill Wells, Fred Lonberg-Holm and NY poet Bob Holman.

Moore’s other projects are wide and varied including Parisian based
improv group ‘Textile Orchestra’, primal punk/folk outfit ‘Amolvacy’
(with members of NNCK) and long distance collaborations with
Argentinian improvisor Alan Courtis, LAFMS founder Tom Recchion and
Thierry Muller (Ilitch). He has also performed many times with Japan’s
‘Boredoms’ as well as Paul Dunmall, Jeremy Barnes, Steve Mackay and C
Spencer Yeh.

Once seen, never forgotten, or as this review from 2007′s Avanto
festival puts it: “Volcano The Bear…combines improvisation and
playful experimentation with a conception of music that borders on the
anthropological. Their extensive knowledge of the traditions of both
experimental and folk music, combined with their other influences,
makes the band a difficult one to categorise. Absurd humour and
eclectic ways of producing sounds are characteristic of VTB’s live
performances. Familiar themes can be introduced as milestones on a
journey towards a result which remains unknown. The band records
everything they play, and uses these recordings as raw material for
their albums. For Volcano The Bear, post-processing is part of
composing; their records are reminiscent of how This Heat and Faust
used collage methods in rock music…The surprise element of their
performances is further emphasized by the fact that their records –
combinations of disciplined studio work and recorded improvisation –
often sound nothing like the music played by the band on stage.”

HARMONY MOLINA

http://harmonymolina.bandcamp.com/