Drones, crackles and all things in between.
And so it comes to pass, end of an era, genuine affection and new opportunities.
There is something important to be said.
Everyday we wake up and as we get older our bones ache, there are more seemingly pointless forms to fill in. We sweat in our clothes and our deep breath quickens. The items on the lists we write never all seem to get ticked off at the end of the day. The eyes grow bleary and we still have more to do. And sometimes what we do are thankless tasks, some just have to be done. Some we've put before ourselves to undertake. We want others to know how hard we work, we complain about how there's not enough hours in the day. And in the final analysis, it's all relative. I get tired, I groan under the weight (wait) and I feel like the tasks are mounting up. But I realised recently, that I would much rather be able to wake up in the morning and have something to do than to not wake up or wake up with no aim in sight. A great guy known as Beta Cloud (aka Carl Pace) who's a cool electronic experimental musician (and fellow expectant father) is in the process of producing a music release with all proceeds to go to cancer treatment/research.
"
It bought to mind a very good friend who was taken way too soon a couple years ago, who really had only just begun bringing good things into the world. It bought to focus that there is much we can achieve while we are alive. Of course we need to rest and take in the good stuff around us, (working towards putting good things in the world is not always about physical undertakings either), but to complain about what we have to do, what we have before us, seems to me to be somewhat of a crime, when the alternative is to not be alive to have those burdens. When I think about that, the idea of them being burdens, for the most part fade somewhat.
Speaking of a bit of chore(!) at times, MOIO played a support gig to Ghost and The Storm Outside's final show on Wednesday February 3rd. Due to some (still) unexplained technical hitches, it was quite an undertaking of drudgery, but keeping in mind the chance I might contradict my above paragraphs, I will say that with a fair degree of fortitude we pulled through it. In the end it seemed the audience appreciated our set and it's most of yourself who realises the bit's you screwed up the most. We greatly appreciated the audience's patience and the guys in Ghost for allowing us to play.
Just recently finished was the Hobart incarnation of the two person (myself and Ms Rees) exhibition Of Heaven and Earth at 6a, (see previous blog post for more info). We included re-workings of the two pieces that were original shown in Montreal in 2008; 'Snowglobe' (Rees) and 'The Lull' (Warren) as well as works that were begun there, but completed here recently. These were three short sound works I produced called 'Five Roses and an Incorporeal Voice', 'We No Longer Speak' (Rue Bridge) and 'Between Frontenac and Pie-IX (singing man)', Sally's single channel video loop 'Rue St. Pierre' and our collaborative widescreen video projection with stereo soundscape 'The Great Escape/La Evasion Grande'.
Here are some documentation images and an excerpt from the 'The Great Escape'.
'The Lull' by Matt Warren
'Snowglobe' by Sally Rees
'The Great Escape/La Evasion Grande' by Sally Rees and Matt Warren
This Friday (March 12) is the opening of Chora Chorus, a two person exhibition by Cath Robinson and Fiona Lee at King's ARI in Melbourne. I created a remix-surround soundscape for Fiona for her contribution and will also be performing a cross between a DJ set and a electro acoustic performance at the opening on Friday night. On the Saturday will be a artists talk that will include Lee, Robinson, myself and Ms Rees who wrote a wonderful piece of text for the show.
There's another gig at the end of the month that is incredibly exciting for me. I as mumble(speak) was very fortunate to land the opening slot for Texas-based bleak avant- folk (is that a genre?) musician Jandek. Not until 2004 had Jandek appeared live, but had since 1978 released a multitude of eccentric and incredibly personal/unique recording, sometimes 3 albums a year. So although the live appearances of late have increased, it's still quite amazing that he will be on our shores. For someone I only discovered in the past 18 or so months, to not only be able to witness the great man here in Hobart, but to be playing on the same bill, well my head swims. Very thankful. Big cheers to Heathen Skulls for bringing Jandek to Australia and to P and A for having me on the bill along with the great Hobart guitar genius Greg Kingston. This will be a night!
March 26, 2010 at the Philip Smith Centre, 2 Edward Street, Glebe, Hobart.
DJ Broken Tiny will be on the bill, performing a set for DJ BTC's monthly 'Brand New Second Hand' nights. This month's theme is '60's' - expect some garage punk, psychedelia and all things in between.
March 27, 2010 at the Brisbane Hotel, Main Bar, Brisbane Street, Hobart.
Other things coming up…
Gigs for MOIO and Untermorast in May,
mumble(speak) on tour in June
and a solo exhibition called Sonaris in August.
Oh and of course….parenthood in late April!!!!!
I'd like to finish by saying how nice (yes I'd like to rescue that word from the clutches of banality) it was to be at Pip and Andrew's nuptials in Swansea a couple of weekends ago. There was genuine affection in the air, a sense of community and a real sense of hope that is rare in an overly cynical environment. I think a lot of people felt it. It was nice (yes I said it). There are many photos of the happy couple floating around that capture the happy moments better than any of mine. However, here's an image taken the next morning that somehow captures the general sense of goodness that was there. Take care all.
