MONDAY MAY 31, 2010 AT 8PM. $5–10 SLIDING SCALE DONATION.
SYNCHRONICITY SPACE 4306 MELROSE AVE. LOS ANGELES, CA.
CTRL+ALT+REPEAT
CTRL+ALT+REPEAT is an experimental music series that focuses on cutting-edge electronic music, improvisation, contemporary classical music, and sound art. The Summer 2010 edition will feature performances by Svarte Greiner (Oslo, Norway), Yann Novak (Los Angeles), Crystal Hell Pool (Seattle), Mem1 (Los Angeles) and Robin + Cassia Streb (Vancouver / Los Angeles) performing Cat Lamb’s Parallel / Moving for two violas.
SVARTE GREINER
Svarte Greiner is the one man project of Erik K. Skodvin (half of the duo Deaf Center & label manager of the Miasmah label). While the duo creates dusty grey soundscapes in a surrealistic world of sounds not far from that of David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti, Svarte Greiner is further exploration into a more dark, mysterious & disturbed universe. Drawing inspirations from artists such as Earth, Volcano the bear, David Darling & Deathprod, the output is draped in Lynchian mysticism & horror film cinematics.
Since his release of the debut album “Knive” in 2006, he has released a series of 12″s, cassettes and limited edition releases around. The new full-length called “Kappe” was released last February, with more new material soon to arrive. Erik also had the pleasure of touring with Fever Ray as opening act in 2009 besides playing shows all around Europe.
YANN NOVAK
Yann Novak (b. 1979 Madison, WI) is a sound artist, composer and designer based in Los Angeles. His compositions have been published by Dragon’s Eye Recordings (US), Dulcett Records (US), The Henry Art Gallery (US), Infrequency (CA), Mandorla (MX), smlEditions (US) and White_Line Editions (UK). His work utilizes different forms of digital documentation as a point of departure. Through the digital manipulation of these sound and image files, his works serve as a translation from documents of personal experiences into new compositions fueled by the original experience.
Novak’s installations and performances have been presented internationally at prestigious events and venues including American Academy in Rome (Rome, Italy), Blim (Vancouver, BC), Decibel Festival (WA), Ersta Konsthall (Stokholm, Sweden), Fiske Planetarium (CO), Henry Art Gallery (WA), Hit Art Space (Gothenburg, Sweden), Kasini House (VT), Las Cienegas Project (CA), Lawrimore Project (WA), Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (CA), Mutek Festival (Montreal, QB), San Francisco Museum of Modern Art (CA), Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival (WA), Soundwalk (CA), Suyama Space (WA), TBA Festival (OR) and Western Bridge (WA).
As a result of these endeavors, Novak had been invited to numerous residencies including the Jentel Artist Residency (WY), the Environmental Aesthetics Residency (WA), the Espy Foundation Residency (WA), and the Kasini House Studio A Residency (VT).
In 2005, Novak re-launched his father’s Dragon’s Eye Recordings imprint with a new focus on limited edition releases by emerging and mid-carrier sound artists, composers and producers. Since its re-launch, Dragon’s Eye Recordings has published over 25 releases and has received critical acclaim. In 2009, Infrequency Editions, curated by Jamie Drouin, was integrated into Dragon’s Eye’s operations and distribution.
In recent years Novak has collaborated through select installation, performance and recorded work with Gretchen Bennett, Crispin Spaeth Dance Group, Robert Crouch, Jamie Drouin, Will Long, Marc Manning, Brian Murphy, Alex Schweder and Tiny Vipers.
CRYSTAL HELL POOL
Seattle’s Crystal Hell Pool (aka Chris Majerus) creates beatless music that eludes the usual trappings of new age mollification and dark ambient’s default horror-flick-score tropes—a very difficult feat to achieve. On his “Incantation to Nothingness” CD, Crystal Hell Pool delves deeply into the sonic abyss, as the title hints, and dredges up murkily luminous tones that intrigue through barely perceptible gradations in emphasis.
MEM1
Mem1 seamlessly blends the sounds of cello and electronics to create a limitless palette of sonic possibilities. In their improvisation-based performances, Mark and Laura Cetilia’s use of custom hardware and software, in conjunction with a uniquely subtle approach to extended cello technique and realtime modular synthesis patching, results in the creation of a single voice rather than a duet between two individuals. Their music moves beyond melody, lyricism and traditional structural confines, revealing an organic evolution of sound that has been called “a perfect blend of harmony and cacophony” (Forced Exposure).
Hailing from Los Angeles, Mem1 has traveled extensively, performing at Roulette (NYC), REDCAT / Disney Hall (LA), the Orange County Museum of Art, Electronic Church (Berlin), the Laptopia Festival (Tel-Aviv), the San Francisco Electronic Music Festival, and the Borealis Festival (Bergen). In 2007, they were awarded an artist residency at Harvestworks in New York for the creation of a new surround sound piece entitled Sonodendron. They have since taken part in residencies at STEIM and Kunstenaarslogies in the Netherlands and USF Verftet in Bergen, Norway. In 2009, they created a site-specific installation for the Museums of Bat Yam (Israel); their work has been screened and installed at venues including the Sundance Film Festival, Fringe Exhibitions (Los Angeles), and the Hordaland Kunstsenter (Bergen). Their third full-length album, “+1,” consisting of collaborations between Mem1 and artists such as Steve Roden, Jan Jelenik, and Frank Bretschneider, was released in Spring 2009 by Interval Recordings.
CAT LAMB PARALLEL / MOVING
Catherine Lamb is a music composer and violist, working from the traditions of American Experimentalism, Just Intonation, and Indian Dhrupad. She is interested in delicate attention to layers of sound and their shadows. She intuitively works through mathematical forms, typically involving the opening from a centered pitch. Her most influential teachers have been James Tenney, Michael Pisaro, and Mani Kaul. She is currently living in Los Angeles, CA where she composes, performs, and teaches music.
ROBIN STREB
Robin Streb is an active performer and teacher from Vancouver, BC, Canada. She holds the position of assistant principal viola with the Vancouver Island Symphony and has performed with the Victoria Symphony, Vancouver Opera Orchestra, and the Kamloops Symphony. She is a member of Melange Chamber Ensemble and the Vancouver Miniaturist Ensemble. Robin has performed in the Los Angeles area with the Okiro Series, Tonoi Ensemble, Ctrl+Alt+Repeat, New West Symphony, and various events at the California Institute of the Arts. Robin earned her BMus. from the University of Victoria (1999) and her MMus. from Rice University (2002). In addition to her performing schedule, she also teaches at the Vancouver Waldorf School and the Vancouver Academy.
CASSIA STREB
Cassia Streb is a Los Angeles-based violist, improviser and composer. She is active in the field of contemporary and experimental music, performs regularly as a soloist and a chamber musician, and collaborates with a variety of artists from many disciplines. She performs with the Vinny Golia Large Ensemble, the California EAR Unit, Wadada Leo Smith’s Silver Orchestra and Guthrie & Streb. Cassia is also sought after as a soloist, particularly for her interpretation of modern scores and microtonal works, and she collaborates with many artists from the fields of electronic music, western classical instruments and composes for theatre, dance and film. She has commissioned and performed a number of works by both established and emerging composers and she has worked closely with a range of artists including Christian Wolff, James Tenney, Michael Pisaro Jurg Frey, John Zorn, Morton Subotnik, Mark Trayle, Radu Malfatti and many others. Cassia holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Victoria and a Masters’ degree from the California Institute of the Arts.