Music, Technology and Culture
Today’s a.m. listening: Ben Neill’s Night Science, an alternately haunting and tranquil cocktail of odd acoustic trumpet atmospherics, low-key dub beats and other unexpected, crafty manipulations. The album, which will come out in September on Thirsty Ear, makes us wonder if electronic music really does have a soul after all. …
http://blog.indiepit.com/2009/07/01/recapitulation-taken-by-trees-ben-neill-suckers/
Ge Wang, who I shared the stage with at NIME, demonstrates a new instrument app for the IPhone.
Sitting Ovation, a site from Edinburgh dedicated to the deeper side of dubstep, posted a list of top dubstep producers which I’m proud to be among. You can see the list here.
May 19, 2009
Two distant jazz mutations from opposite directions when Ben Neill and Mörglbl hit Philadelphia.
Ben Neill @ The Gatherings (photo: Jeff Towne)
I caught two very disparate shows in Philadelphia this weekend, both drawing upon elements of jazz, but ultimately having little to do with jazz at all. First up was Ben Neill, performing at Saturday, May 16 at The Gatherings concert series. He’s released several recordings including Green Machine, Tryptical, Goldbug and Automotive. A new CD is slated for the fall.
Neill doesn’t make it easy on himself. He wrestles with his “mutantrumpet” a Rube Goldberg contraption with 3 trumpet bells, one of them muted, 2 sets of valves, a mini-trombone slide and electronics that trigger other sounds. He creates a layered, realtime performance with trumpets sometimes having contemplative inner dialogues and sometimes shout out call & response exchanges. All the while, electronic sounds swirling to the rafters on waves of synth pads. As near as I can tell, he was controlling everything in real time with rhythm loops triggered in Ableton live. Even the screen images were being manipulated via his trumpet, pulsing and warping in sync to what he was playing.
Ben has roots in the usual sources, notably Miles Davis and Jon Hassell, but he’s staked out his own terrain in the sonic landscape, mixing fractured jungle loops under his free-form improvisations. His music is like a digital river, with a different fractalized scene around every corner, the constant being Ben Neill greeting you on your way.
Mary Anne Hobbs, the dubstep DJ on BBC Radio 1 played one of my tracks on her show last night. Very exciting to be included in this amazing mix. You can listen to the show here
My new music is featured on the Progressive Pulse Global Block Party, an online event.
WHY: On March 28, 2009 at 8:30 p.m., local time, World Wildlife Fund is asking individuals, businesses, governments and organizations around the world to turn off their lights for one hour - Earth Hour - to make a global statement of concern about climate change and demonstrate their commitment to finding solutions.
I just found this on the guardian uk web site tonight, they let artists take over the music section. This is Squarepusher’s takeover, an artist I have always admired. There is some great live footage of his playing, an amazing animated video that uses audio-controlled video, a fluxus photoessay and an article on Stockhausen. As well as Mr. Jenkinson taking on the critics at the guardian. Just a tech note, wordpress isn’t working correctly with Flash 10 so it’s impossible to upload photos and videos. Guess the blog is going to be a bit boring for a while… 
March 24th, 2009
Get a look at this!!
Apparently it’s a Mutantrumpet and it’s only owner is Ben Neill - http://www.myspace.com/benneill - I urge you to fire on over to his page or website and take a listen to his tracks.
Think tripped-out jazz type dubstep with moments of blissful lounge, all while underwater, on acid.
Last night was another great edition of Dub War, with 2562 from Amsterdam headlining. The crowd seemed larger than ever before, the place was already packed with a line around the corner when I arrived around 11:45. Once inside, the music was amazing; Dave Q spun a great set of massively funky grooves and 2562 brought the sound more electronic. Starkey followed with a nasty, funky set of Philly style beats, and Juakali brought his unique MC vibe to the whole night. As always, the crowd was a wonderfully eclectic mix of people, all focused on the sound and the music. The sound at Love is incredible, the bass frequencies are like a sonic massage. My ears have never hurt from listening to that system. I think dubstep is the perfect music for what’s going on right now, and judging by last night’s crowd it seems like lots of other people feel the same. Check out this video to see what I mean…
Last night the mutantrumpet was played at Zankel Hall. But not by me. In a rare performance by another trumpeter, Brandon Ridenour played my instrument in a piece by Hungarian composer Peter Eotvos. It’s a chamber concerto for double belled trumpet, voice and a small ensemble.  Another trumpet player, Marco Blaauw was (I believe) responsible for the inclusion of a double belled trumpet in the work, titled Snatches of a Conversation. Some years ago Blaauw emailed me and told me about his double bell trumpet, acknowledging that he was aware of my work with the mutantrumpet for a number of years before. His instrument does not have electronics, it is purely acoustic. But he performs and commissions a lot of contemporary music for it. Ridenour played the mutantrumpet once before in a performance of this work at Juilliard. (more…)
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