Avantgardefestival Schiporst

It is about time to start planning the summer, and what better place to start if not in Schiporst.

In the north-German countryside, on a farm, something important happens. Being audience or artist. During a weekend, performance and concerts of high quality and professional standards happens, in a mixture you will never find anywhere else. Add the homely atmosphere created by Jean-Hervé Peron and Carina Varain at their homefarm, and the fact that artists and audience eat and drink together, and you have a setting almost unbeatable. I have lovely memories, fantastic experiences and made very good friends at Schiporst (not to mention all the records I bought!).

As of now the following line-up appears on the festivals website:

Nurse With Wound (UK/USA) (c)

Ana-Maria Avram & Iancu Dumitrescu, Chris Cutler &Tim Hodgkinson (RO/UK) (c)

Faust ( A/F/UK) (c)

KKNull (JAP) (tbc)

Stahl Quartett (GER) (c)

Sunseastar (UK) (c)

Xabec (Ger) (c)

Black Carrots (UK) (c)

Silent Movies (I) (c)

ElectrixGarden (GER) (c)

Traummaschine ( SP) (tbc)

Biomass (I) (tbc)

13th Monkey (GER) (c)

Sternschuss Trio ( ISR/GER) (c)

Daniel Sarid & Assif Tsahar (ISR) (tbc)

Pierre Chevalier (B) (c)

Brian Mitchell (USA) (c)

Asylum Lunaticum (GER) (tbc)

New release

I am proud to announce that Ambolthue Records just released my new solo cdr Johnny Guitar. About 30 minutes and 4 brand new tracks. Crushing sounds and lots of energy is some key words for this release.

It's available through the labels mailorder at a very reasonable price, and you might find other goodies there as well.

New sounds - Stokastiske Lodd

In October 2007 I teamed up with Hallstein Sandvin in Hønsehuset studio. We had some great fun improvising, and made some wonderful noise. Hallstein mixed together the sounds we made, and composed two tracks. You can listen to it at our new Myspace, or download the tracks here:

Spor 1

Spor 2

Let us know what you think. We might do another session in the studio, and watch out for the results here.

Salvatore wins Norwegian award

Strangely enough, Salvatore was nominated and won the Norwegian Spellemannspris 2007 in the category of Electronica. Salvatore claims to be playing instrumental rock music, and use simplicity and repetition with an optimistic, emotional feel. It's an underground band, but with a sense of spaciousness and they have been quite inspired by German krautbands as NEU!.
Salvatore has mixed and explored different styles, and members have gone back and forth into the line-up. Previously, some of the members of the band used to be in electronica groups, and they sometimes mix electronic sounds with live guitar, bass and drums. This perspective might be the reason why they won this category, and of course the album itself. From the label:

2007’s first album, Days Of Rage, is Salvatore’s 6th, and was released on New Year’s Day. Now the ever-evolving band features two new English members: Anthony Barratt from Billy Mahonie (Too Pure) and Leon Muraglia, the man behind the legendary Kosmische Club in London. Still having one foot in the Kraut department, they have added more electronic elements. It might their most accessible album this far.
Not quite rock/pop, and not quite art/experimental, Salvatore inhabit an important mid-point in contemporary music. The music is intelligent, but does not compromise on heart, and that great feeling of euphoria.

Sonic Arts Network

A couple of days ago I recieved "Blood, Muscle & Air" - the new CD from the Sonic Arts Network. It concists of great vocal work by artists from around the world. Amongst the 14 vocalists we find our own Maja Ratkje and other great names such as Jaap Blonk, Chris Mann and David Moss, who curated the release and will be performing in Stavanger in September. All of the artists have theire own unique style, but they are rooted and connected to the listener by the blood, muscle and air we all possess. Great inventiveness also brands the vocalists and they have all a powerful and personal performance, it impressed me very much.

By joining the network for only £25 (£20 for UK residents), you get three CDs a year, and lots of info as well about what is going on in the UK:

Sonic Arts Network is an organisation in the United Kingdom that enables both audiences and practitioners to engage with the art of sound in diverse, accessible and innovative ways. Sonic Arts Network fosters a culture of creative risk taking and experimental approaches to sound through a cutting edge programme of festivals, events, commissions and education projects. The organisation believes in the unique capacity of listening to enrich people’s lives by unlocking creativity, promoting social and environmental awareness and engaging a diverse range of communities.Sonic Arts Network’s activities separate into three main areas:

Activities – Events, regular festivals such as Cut and Splice and Expo, tours and commissions.

Education - Award winning national education project Sonic Postcards, artist workshops and talks.

Network - Sonic Arts Network is a membership organisation that is the hub of information, opportunities and publications for the UK sonic arts scene.