New Music Archives
OK FEEL GOOD
By on January 28, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
A few weeks ago in my composition class at PSU, my professor introduced us to a piece called OK FEEL GOOD by a composer named Jonathan Newman. I was instantly taken back by it. The piece was written, as Newman states in the notes of the score, during “a year of somewhat intense personal distress, and I was extremely tired of feeling bad, so I decided to write a very happy piece.”
To me it’s an amazing work, full of lush melodic color and pulsating with rhythmic motion. I specifically state this because the motivic material is written in a somewhat odd meter. It starts with a bar of 7/16, goes into a bar of 3/8, back into another bar of 7/16, and then finishes with two bars of a more common 3/4. But it manages to flow very well. It has many moods, no doubt due to the fact of his intentional transition from dark to light, and it’s easy to her his love of jazz rhythms, percussion, and Gershwin. It’s warm and very tender at times, extremely sexy at others, and it reminds me a lot of a Don Ellis composition. It’s rad.
The seven and a half minute long composition was written for the Aspen Contemporary Ensemble and debuted on July 12, 1996 at the Harris Hall as part of the world renowned Aspen Music Festival. The orchestration is for a small six person chamber group: Flute (doubling Piccolo), B-flat Clarinet (doubling Bass Clarinet), Violin, Cello, Piano, and Percussion (Crotales, Xylophone, Vibraphone, Marimba, Triangle, Suspended Cymbal, Conga).
Finally I would also like to mention that Mr. Newman is part-founder and member of the BCM International, a consortium of four composers: Newman, Jim Bonney, Steven Bryant, and Eric Whitacre, who was the artist in residence at the APU School of Music two years ago. He adapted ideas and themes from Milton’s epic poem to a multimedia opera/dance/stage performance with live and prerecorded music and entitled it Paradise Lost. Interesting idea, sort of trendy output. Anyway I thought it was cool that they all work together and promote each other. Something of a no brainer but refreshing to see for two composers that I had no idea were connected.
SHINOBI
By on February 10, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
recorded and engineered by honey owens
MIKE O’S: THE MUSIC VIDEO
By on March 6, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
Along with director and Dave Nuss, The Righteous and Harmonious Fists have made a music video for our song called “Mike O’s”. The song is going to be released on a split 7” record, along with a head banging White Fang jam, in the next few months through Marriage Records, States Rights Records, and our friends at the Tender Loving Empire. This video will be on the accompanimental DVD that is included in the luscious package with artwork by Maria Dixon (awesome article about her painting on Valet’s new record, “Naked Acid”). Liberal editing by yours truly. Enjoy.
Mike O’s from Jordan Dykstra on Vimeo.
DASH! In The Street
By on June 13, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (5)
DASH! is opening up for a rad avant-garde film screening that’s happening tomorrow evening in association with Portland Cinema Project’s “In The Street” series. The following are showing:
Under The Brooklyn Bridge by Rudy Burckhardt [1953, 16mm, b&w, 15 min]
In the Street by Helen Levitt [1952, 16mm, b&w, sound, 16 min]
Mirror Animation by Portland’s own Harry E. Smith [1979, 16mm, color, sound, 11 min]
(I’m really excited to see work from this amazing man. Check out his “Early Abstractions” (1946-57), Pt. 1: )
The Riddle of Lumen by Stan Brakhage [1972, 16mm, color, silent, 17 min]
The Black Tower by John Smith [1987, 16mm, color, sound, 24 min]
I’m playing at 8:30 and the films start at dusk.
3125 NE Burnside (across from Music Millennium)
Portland, OR 97214
Free or very cheap!
PANNING
By on June 28, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Experiment in panning…
(Not recommended for computer speakers, headphones okay, better yet is a stereo setup sitting five or more feet back)
Which side is the melody on?
And which the bass?
Can you hear when they change?
And when they reverse?
IS HETEROGENEOUS AND MORE
By on July 15, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (2)
Speaking of which, I might soon be performing that very show near you during the next couple of weeks…
…on tour with Jared Mees and the Grown Children, we performed at the Doug Fir last night and are leaving Portland today. Think there will most likely be a few more shows in Idaho but I haven’t confirmed. Really really stoked for the SLC Pioneer Day show with local ambient trippers Stag Hare!!!! Also do what you can to check out the White Fang/White Rainbow/Rob Walmart tour which has already begun…think they’re playing at the Smell with Lucky Dragons on Sunday July 20th. I’m going to try to check it out, let me know if you wanna carpool.
Finally, we wrapped up the final day of shooting for the DASH! video for “You Keep Kicking (The Walls You’ve Become)”. The shoot was handled well with ease and guidance by David and Daniel Nuss. It is going to be pretty epic and I heard last night that they’re already begun to cut the footage (this is slang for editing I’m told). I’m working on putting together a making-of with the footage Tony and I shot. So many people helped out and I’d like to thank every single person for their contributions especially Dave Nuss, Dan Nuss, Sam Guerro, and Tony Ortega….
Digital Flickr photo album for review here.
DASH! OREM(THE SINK) AND TOM BLOOD SHOW IN 1.5HR
By on August 4, 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tonight at the Towne Lounge in Portland, ORE Dash!, Orem(the sink), and Tom Blood (aka Grand Junction Grand Therapy) are playing and it’s gonna be a special night.
Tony is debuting a video for Qurbani that he did the voice-over for with Ariel. Dash! is doing a completely visual set with a special unofficial debut of the new video directed by Dave Nuss. Here is a sneak peak:
Gonna be a fun night, come out if you. Me and Tony have been building it up a bunch and are super super excited. The Orem set is gonna be all electronic bliss and Tom’s got soooo many sleeves to pull tricks from. Thanks for reading this.
