RELEASES

SFSOUND (Matt Ingalls – clarinet, bass clarinet; John Ingle – alto saxophone; Gino Robair – prepared piano: Benjamin Kreith – violin: Tara Flandreau – viola; Monica Scott – cello; Kjell Nordeson – percussion) WRACK (Tim Daisy – percussion; Anton Hatwich – bass; Jen Clare Paulson – viola; Jason Stein – bass clarinet) ROVA SAXOPHONE QUARTET (Bruce Ackley – soprano; Steve Adams – alto; Larry Ochs – tenor; Jon Raskin – baritone) and Tim Perkis & Gino Robair – live electronics

TOM DJLL (trumpet, preparations & electronics), TIM PERKIS (electronics),MATT INGALLS (clarinet, bass clarinet), MATTHIEU WERCHOWSKI (viola, violin), THERESA WONG (cello), DAVID CHIESA (double bass) JOHN SHIURBA (electric guitar), GINO ROBAIR (energised surfaces & voltage made audible).

Tom Djll put this electro-acoustic improvising octet together when Matthieu Werchowski and David Chiesa were visiting the San Francisco area, resulting in some performances that are more about the group than the individuals. A duet by the two visitors is also included. 60 minutes.

Formed in 1977 in the San Francisco Bay Area, The League of Automatic Music Composers (John Bischoff, Jim Horton, Tim Perkis, Paul DeMarinis, Rich Gold, David Behrman) is considered to be the world’s first computer network band/collective. ‘ARCHIVE 1978–1981’ features over 12 hours of previously unreleased archival tapes, documents, interviews and video from these electronic music mavericks.

Compiled and edited by Jon Leidecker and presented in a lush limited edition wooden USB flash drive. 968.301.735 bytes worth of computer music history.

A new recording by the band that pioneered laptop ensembles over twenty years ago coupled with an historic overview of their recordings, unreleased tracks and video clips of the band in performance. Functioning in the West Coast tradition of composer as instrument builder—redefining music from the ground up—The Hub makes music using electronic and digital systems of their own devising. A natural extension of the late 1970’s ensemble the League of Automatic Music Composers, the group has performed worldwide over the past two decades and continues to break new ground in the ever-growing laptop medium.

This is the definitive document of this important west coast collective and contains recordings covering three decades of activity. Most of this material is being issued here for the first time, much of it has been unavailable for years, and all of it is some of the most imaginative and compelling electronic music ever made. This specially priced 3 CD set includes a deluxe booklet with photos, technical diagrams and written testaments by group members and collaborators giving new insights and historical perspective to one of the most infamous electronic ensembles since Musica Elettronica Viva.

JOHN BISCHOFF, CHRIS BROWN, SCOT GRESHAM-LANCASTER, TIM PERKIS, PHIL STONE, MARK TRAYLE.

Recorded on 10 October 2004 at Berkeley, USA.

The personnel: Serge Baghdassarians - electronics; Boris Baltschun - electronics; Chris Brown - piano; Tom Djll - trumpet; Matt Ingalls - clarinet; Tim Perkis - electronics; Gino Robair - electronics; John Shiurba - guitar.

Tracks: #1 am anfang zerstörung; #2 interkontinentale luftschiffahrt; #3 morrel remained hopeful; #4 reisenflugzeugabteilung; #5 ein dicker "gas bag".

Tom Djll put this electro-acoustic improvising nonet together when Frédèric Blondy and Lê Quan Ninh were visiting the San Francisco area, resulting in some extended performances that are more about the group than the individuals. 74 minutes.

The League of Automatic Music Composers was a band/collective of electronic music experimentalists active in the San Francisco Bay Area between 1977 and 1983. Widely regarded as the first musicians to incorporate the newly available microcomputers of the day into live musical performance, the League created networks of interacting computers and other electronic circuits with an eye to eliciting surprising and new “musical artificial intelligences.” We approached the computer network as one large, interactive musical instrument made up of independently programmed automatic music machines, producing a music that was noisy, difficult, often unpredictable, and occasionally beautiful.

The work of the League partook of the distinctive cultural atmosphere of the San Francisco Bay Area in the seventies and eighties, a rich blend of communal ideologies, radical culture, technical innovation, intellectual ferment, and a hands-on attitude that has been a hallmark of California life since the pioneer days. In the air then there was a sense of new possibilities, and the feeling of the need to build a culture from the ground up. For music, specifically, this meant redefining everything about how it’s done, from the instruments and tuning systems to the musical forms, venues, and social relations among players and audiences.

—Tim Perkis and John Bischoff

As soon as the tape was rolling, the music flowed and we quickly found an ensemble vibe, which continued during additional sessions on Gail’s subsequent visits to the Bay Area.

Sadly, on June 5, 2003, Matthew Sperry was struck and killed by a truck while riding his bike to work. The tragic event was devastating to us, both personally and musically. As a tribute to Matthew, we gathered once more - this time as a quartet - for one final recording session.

GAIL BRAND trombone; TIM PERKIS electronics; GINO ROBAIR percussion, faux dax, horns, Styrofoam, ebow snare; JOHN SHIURBA electric guitar; MATTHEW SPERRY double bass and preparations. On EMANEM (UK).

Four Stars! Slipping this series of atypical improvisations into the envelope of a category is not an easy task. What on paper reads as a guitar/drums duo is actually a mousetrap game of unpredictable sonorities taking their shape from basic elements - Phillips' chordal tapping or Flinn's lumpy snare rolls, just to name a couple - then planting uncertain roots in the quicksands of electronic modification (by Tim Perkis, who joins the duo in several tracks). The musicians deliver the "right" energetic mass from the rust of excessive prankishness, like scientists winking to each other after reaching an interesting result; the strange atmosphere generated by some of these conversations belies the accurate pondering that an expert ear will surely perceive in the large part of "Square circle". Abstract propulsion and bulldozing methodology are parts of a complex vocabulary of adventurous sapience and inquisitive sonic exploration championed by Flinn and Phillips with scrupulous application. -- Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes

Musicians: Philip Gelb (shakuhachi), Shoko Hikage (koto), Tim Perkis (electronics), Chris Brown (piano).  On 482 Music. BUY ONLINE.

Accompanying Fuchs are Tom Dill(tpt), Gino Robair(perc), John Shiurba(gtr), Matthew Sperry(bass), and Perkis(electronics).

On computer-driven electronics: John Bischoff, Chris Brown, Ikue Mori, Tim Perkis, Mark Trayle. On trumpet and flugelhorn: Wadada Leo Smith. On percussion: William Winant.

My performance was on a covered outdoor deck, giving a nice blend of rich echoes and sounds of the harbor on a spring saturday: flapping sails and seagulls, mixed in with live electronic music.