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 alan raventine 		there are 8 titles featuring vic rawlings in stock.
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new to stock as of
october 15th, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
circuit-bending
minimalism-drones

chloë recordings (usa) #chloe 008 cd

mawja “live one” compact disc

  • 16 sept 05: wnur, chicago, il (13:07)
  • 21 sept 05: warehouse next door, washington, dc (29:50)
chloë recordings press release...
chloë 008 mawja: "live one"

mazen kerbaj (cornet, objects)
michael bullock (bass, feedback)
vic rawlings (cello, surface electronics)

mary staubitz emailed me asking, "do you and vic want to play with this guy from lebanon?" mary was booking a series of noise shows at the midway café in jamaica plain, ma, and had been contacted, apparently out of the blue, by "this trumpet player from beirut." she wanted to help him out but wasn’t sure what to do, since none of us in boston really knew anything about him. vic and i have had a duo established since 2000, so i knew at least i wouldn’t be totally out to sea with this new guy. i agreed and so did vic: we would meet mazen for the first time at the gig.

we did just that. i walked into the midway the night of the gig and saw a tall middle eastern man standing in the middle. the midway is a very rowdy, noisy joint even when the music is not playing, so conversation was limited to pleasantries, and 30 minutes later the three of us were on "stage" (actually the middle of the floor in front of the tiny stage, the only place we could fit two large string instruments, two amps, and mazen’s table crowded with trumpet preparations). then something happened - music came tumbling out. immediately, and for the entire set, we were in that state of mind that most groups work for months or years to achieve; the music played itself. harsh, mild, tense, limber, awkward in the best ways, and above all, effortless. after it was over we knew we had to play again, soon, and often.

we set about booking a tour for the next time mazen could come to the us. this disc, along with "studio one" on al maslakh, is the products of that intensely creative week. - michael bullock - troy, june 2007

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back in stock as of
october 15th, 2007

first in stock on
january 10th, 2005

file under:
sound-research
site-specific
chloë recordings (usa) #chloe 005 cd

united states of belt “pancake alley” compact disc

  • ping pong holiday (19:08)
  • sleepytown breakfast (21:47)
here’s some very well done lucky-kitchen-lineage aural story-telling, as done by the wonderfully thorough united states of belt (with help from folk like vic rawlings on banjo). their set @ the 2004 intransitive festival was certainly one of the highlights... phonographers take note...
chloë recordings press release...
“chloë recordings and champ records (of troy, ny) have teamed up to present the third release from united states of belt and the first split release for either label.

"pancake alley" is a 40 minute sound collage composed of field recordings made around the usa between 1999-2004. the sounds are unmistakably american; the aesthetic, uniquely beltian. the result is somewhere between a mythic tall-tale and a dream of wandering, as vast and colorful as crossing america in a 1972 airstream excella.

the cd comes packaged in a lushly printed, heavy-stock paper package (with insert) that is itself a work of art: brightly painted signs, fantasy images from youth, and photographs of far-away familiarity. images and design by us of belt; cover painting by mr. joe signs that go.”

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$12.01

back in stock as of
october 15th, 2007

first in stock on
november 25th, 2003

file under:
free-improv
sound-research
chloë recordings (usa) #chloe 003 cd

vic rawlings / michael bullock “fall of song” compact disc

  • as if the
  • as the
  • when the
  • as in the
  • about the
  • wherein the
  • what if the
  • as we went to
  • __ ____ __ _____
  • ____-_-____ _____
  • ____ __ ________
  • ____ _____ _-__-__ ___
  • _________/_ ____ __ ___ ____
mike and vic are two visionary artists who not have not only fashioned their own rube goldberg-lineage kit out of discarded oscillators, guts of mixing desks, old contact mics, etc... but have developed a language to communicate with each other using these means. said language has a wide vocabulary and, at the time of this recording, was at an all time peak.
chloë recordings press release...
vic rawlings : cello, open-circuit electronics.
mike bullock : contrabass, tone generators

“this disc was recorded in an antique wooden gymnasium last winter, where it was so cold we couldn’t feel our hands. vic plays amplified cello and a rack of electronics he (re)built himself out of exposed circuit boards and salvaged speaker cones. mike plays amplified contrabass and a tone generator originally made for scientists. the result is an unbelievably stark sound world utterly alienated from the glib fluidity usually associated with bowed strings. the pieces on 'fall of song' are by turns deep-frozen and blisteringly hot. the rhythms are those of hands moving over a workbench or methodically slashing tires.

after playing in various bands together since 1996, rawlings and bullock first played as a duo in summer 2000. they will be touring france and the netherlands in october 2003 in support of ‘fall of song.’”

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$8.17

back in stock as of
march 20th, 2009

first in stock on
march 28th, 2007

chocolate monk (uk) #choc.144 cd

greg kelley “one hour as something that didn't turn out the way i intended it to” compact disc recordable

  • one hour as something that didn't turn out the way i intended it to (i’m not anti-music, music’s anti-me)
chocolate monk press release...
greg kelley – one hour as something that didn't turn out the way i intended it to (cd-r)

“another exerise in failure. spring 2003: with assistance from vic rawlings, i fill my room at club awesome in somerville ma w/ electric keyboards, synth, a small organ and set them all for drone. a radio plays static. record to md, output md through my stereo for low feedback. an electric fan is aimed at the microphone for the distorted vintage 78 effect (rpm, not the year). vic bowed a single cello note at some point and a cymbal was scraped. the intent: record in mono for 2 hours, communicate with the dead. after 1 hour, i couldn't take it any more. my intended "two hours as..." is now "one hour as..." i fussed over it for a while. it's kind of boring. i like boring, but...

late winter 2004: i must do something with this recording. i decide to look backwards into the archives...

january 8, 2000: i send out a call to arms: meet me at twisted village records, cambridge ma at 8pm. it's scelsi's birthday and we will play a memorial drone for him. the call was met by oliver alden, mike bullock, james baumgartner, seth cluett, james coleman, david dougan, david gross, tatsuya nakatani, howard stelzer, bhob rainey, vic rawlings. some automatic instruments played themselves. others may have been there, but i don'tremember.and you can't really hear them anyway.

back to late winter 2004: i record a new track onto my 4 track in my bedroom in allston ma. trumpet and radio static. (dj screw's ghost inhabited my 4 track near the end of this track.) then i record a burning guitar solo for the end of my new and improved "one hour as..." the mono drone, the scelsi tribute band, the trumpet/radio track and the hott guitar track are all mixed down from 4 track to md under the influence of samuel smith oatmeal stout. a vocal intro and headphone feedback interruptions are then added. the task is complete. it's a bloodbath. what have i done?”

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$15.12

back in stock as of
january 25th, 2008

first in stock on
august 9th, 2006

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation

file under:
free-improv
grob (germany) #grob 543 cd

the bsc “good” compact disc

  • good
grob press release...
the bsc - good

in vienna, berlin and tokyo musicians are working on stillness, reduction, non-expressivity and micro-differentiation. in cologne, london, new york, chicago, paris, warsaw, this music is performed and written about. but up to now the most exciting of this scene has been happening outside these large cities. for example, in boston. that this city possesses a young and rather large improv scene including labels and venues is well known. there are even a few ”superstars” like the saxophonist bhob rainey and the trumpeter greg kelley, two musicians who have easily liberated themselves from established improvisation patterns. what has been missing till now is a recording that clearly exemplifies the sound of boston. such a thing can hardly be forced, it always seems to happen casually, e.g. when one listens to a concert recording again and again and then suddenly discovers how definitive it is!

such a stroke of luck has arrived with the bsc – good. the bsc is a chamber orchestra from boston led by bhob rainey. joining him are greg kelley (of course), james coleman (theremin), howard stelzer (tapes), liz tonne (voice), vic rawlings (cello, electronics), mike bullock (bass), and chris cooper (prepared guitar), with guests axel dörner (trumpet) and andrea neumann (inside piano).

good is a 37-minute, improvisation process recorded live, which creatively draws on the resources from the reduced parameters of this new improvised music. despite all the stillness, the music is also surprisingly dense and tightly woven together. the music captivates via a noisiness radical maintained throughout the whole piece, and in spite of this (or because of it?), it is lyrical and surreal. the melody of metallic shimmering tonal colors can be heard from the very beginning.

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$8.41

back in stock as of
march 24th, 2009

first in stock on
november 10th, 2006

threads:
live-electronic
electro-acoustic-improvisation
minimalism-drones
concert-recordings

pure (usa) #pure fin cd

due process “fin de la voix” compact disc

  • combine xxi (4:42) (w/ chris cooper)
  • combine xxii (6:19) (w/ greg kelley)
  • combine xxiii (6:18) (w/ dave quinn)
  • combine xxiv (8:30) (w/ vic rawlings)
  • fin de la voix (17:59)
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "combine xxii"
2001 release: the due process duo of jason lescalleet and rrron “emil beaulieu” lessard augmented (on the first four pieces, respectively) by chris “angst hase pfeffer nase” cooper, greg kelley, dave quinn, and vic rawlings ...

i assume the title refers to the voix gallery space in lowell, ma, where many a good-to-great concert took place (and at least one rooftop pagan wedding ceremony - that i can remember) in the waning days of the 1990s ...

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$12.61

back in stock as of
february 26th, 2009

first in stock on
september 12th, 2007

threads:
electro-acoustic-improvisation
circuit-bending
minimalism-drones

sedimental (usa) #sed 050 cd

tim feeney / vic rawlings “in six parts” compact disc

  • 1. (7:38)
  • 2. (8:33)
  • 3. (6:46)
  • 4. (9:22)
  • 5. (5:22)
  • 6. (13:21)
click the play button to hear an excerpt of "2."
a continuous improvisation (presented... you guessed it :: “in six parts”) by boston’s vic rawlings (long the hidden jewel of our vibrant improvisation community due to his brilliant open-circuit playing/instrument designs and electronically-enhanced cello) and tim feeney (a younger entrant on percussion & electronics) captured at firehouse 12 in new haven, ct in december 2005.

a tense set of raucous hysteresis-laden electronics, post-lachenmann “extended techniques” (both players appear far more interested in the so-called “non-musical” properties of their respective acoustic palettes; nary a clean attack from feeney’s percussion array, nor a double-stop from vic) ; with the faint whisper of a dying capacitor/zener diode never far out of earshot... marvelous.
sedimental press release...
tim feeney / vic rawlings - in six parts (sedcd050)

vic rawlings is as careful and focused as any musician/improviser working today. over the years he has honed his prepared cello and electronic, open circuit ‘device’ performances down to sparse, tight, violent little assaults. his many collaborative projects run long and deep in boston (undr quartet, the bsc) and beyond (nra, mawja) and this (relatively) recent partnership with the youngster tim feeney has produced immediate and excellent results as well. this release also finally gets rawlings properly into the sedimental roster, something that is long overdue.

so what do we have here? feeney, a percussionist, is less a foil than a multiplier of the rawlings aesthetic. the first five parts are static, lean, and pinpointed explorations of high pitches, specific gestures of scrapes and buzzes. cold, but organic. sparse, but rich. feeney does provide a modicum of warmth as heard on part six, the final section of the disc, which acts an emotional counterweight to the previous five. a rhythm emerges, slowly unfolding, repeating, a know-able signpost amid the desolation, a way out, but not exactly towards home.

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back in stock as of
february 26th, 2009

first in stock on
may 18th, 2003

threads:
free-improvisation
electro-acoustic-improvisation
experimental-instruments

sedimental (usa) #sed 030 cd

james coleman “zuhitsu” compact disc

  • this castle keeps me
  • burial of the combs
  • katydid
  • muddy kemaris
  • lady of the combs
  • flying water shrine
  • each spire an animal
  • events at the laurel pond
  • zwittering maschine
  • tsunekos’ dream
  • the singing sword
  • stick & stone i
  • sticks & stone ii
  • kokin mystery birds
  • released to the stars
debut album from james coleman; long boston’s sole creative improvising thereminist, also progenitor of the lowercase_sound mailing list.
sedimental press release...
james coleman: theremin 1-15
greg kelley: trumpet 4, 7, 11, 14, 15
tatsuya nakatani: drums, percussion, bowed percussion 1, 4-6, 8, 10-14
vic rawlings: amplified cello, aluminum cello, sarangi, electronics 2, 7, 15
bhob rainey: soprano saxophone 3, 9
liz tonne: voice 5, 7, 10, 15
the undr quartet appears on tracks 7 and 15.

in our continuing quest to bring you new and young talented experimental musicians, sedimental is proud to release the debut cd from boston improv heavyweight, thereminist james coleman. featuring bhob rainey, greg kelley, liz tonne, tatsuya nakatani and vic rawlings this dynamic cd not only sheds new light on an instrument historically relegated to novelty but also provides a superb forum for experiencing an aesthetic that can be heard in much of boston's underground. these improvisational settings and collaborations, carefully selected by james himself, reach a place beyond their instrument individually and do so with subtlety and elegance. we recommend listening to zuihitsu at several different volume levels to experience these qualities. this release also features the creativity of five other excellent improvisers (bios provided below).

james' intense involvement in the boston underground includes the six-piece free improvisatory group saturnalia, and the experimental chamber music group, the undr quartet. he has also performed with nmperign, joe mcphee, john voigt, peter kowald, eddie prévost, dan decellis, david gross, dave bryant (ornette colemans' primetime) and composer & pianist john thomas. he has presented lecture-performances and master classes at the berklee college of music, tufts university & the george eastman house archive of motion pictures. he is also list owner and moderator of lowercase-sound, an internet discussion group devoted to low volume/low velocity experimental music & associated media, director of autumn uprising-a three-day annual festival of improvisatory practice in the greater boston area, as well as producer of a weekly live contemporary music series at the zeitgeist gallery, cambridge, ma. before re-locating to boston, james wrote and recorded numerous electronic sound environments & installations in perth, western australia, including an architectural site/sound installation at gotham artists studio, and drone piano, a collaborative sound installation at the perth institute of contemporary arts with chris mann.

the music, the compositional strategies and origins of his work on this release are unique amongst current electro-acoustic improvisors in that it is very gestural. coleman is working from a position of electronic music making as an activity of the body. it strives to fuse the intricacy of experimental technique with clarity & simplicity along with a sense of narrative.

coleman draws inspiration from the unique spatial and timbral elements found in morton feldman, giancinto scelsi, john cage and the british improvisatory group amm; the stylistic and phrasing innovations of miles davis, traditional japanese music, minimalist art forms, fluxusism and the sounds and movements of birds and other animals. the artist has a long held interest in the austere compositions of feldman, which often display the slow, unfolding of a single note(s) in space, which in turn, relates to the 'quietness' & spareness inherent in traditional japanese art forms. the artist sculpted a particular theremin sound for the recording of the two undr quartet pieces, each spire an animal and released to the stars, incorporating japanese aesthetic concepts of wabi (rustic simplicity), and sabi (loneliness, weathered surfaces). the theremin in these two pieces has a burnt, irregular, grainy sound using amp noise to achieve this sensibility. this sound in combination with the sound of the undr quartet suggests vulnerability, beauty, potential of life, energy in transition, and epiphany.

zuihitsu means 'running brush,' 'miscellany' in japanese. zuihitsu is a particular school of traditional and classical japanese literature in the form of short paragraphs wandering from subject to subject. the title calls attention to the brevity of the tracks, as the artist sought to achieve compact, poetic forms and pieces for this release. he considers the 'running brush' description as being analogous with his personal improvisational practice as 'spontaneous composition'.

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... this page was last updated on tuesday, june 30th, 2009 @ 8:06 pm