Tag Archives: mountains

VIDEO OF THE DAY: “LIVING LENS” BY MOUNTAINS

Friends since middle school, Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp both attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, started the experimental Apestaartje record label, and have been recording as the electroacoustic duo Mountains since 2005. On albums such as Sewn, Air Museum, and Mountains Mountains Mountains, Anderegg and Holtkamp take listeners on intriguing ambient sonic adventures combining acoustic guitars, keyboards, electronics, and environmental sounds, creating layers that seamlessly flow together. On their new album, Centralia (Thrill Jockey, January 23), the Brooklyn-based duo has concentrated more on the individual elements that go into their excursions, which can run more than twenty minutes, as on “Propeller,” in which a live song has been transformed into a beautiful, epic trip through nature, ending up on a beach with soft waves rolling onto shore. “Tilt” shows off Mountains’ more folky side, while “Liana” heads off into outer space. Centralia, which is currently streaming for free at Pitchfork, is a soothing, meditative journey that goes wherever you allow it to. Mountains will be holding a record release party January 19 at Union Pool on a bill with Mind over Mirrors, Golden Retriever, and East Village Radio DJ Jeff Conklin.

CHIN CHIH YANG: KILL ME OR CHANGE

Chin Chih Yang’s “Kill Me or Change” will feature thirty thousand aluminum cans dropped on the artist in front of the Queens Museum

Queens Museum of Art
New York City Building, Flushing Meadows Corona Park
Saturday, July 28, and Sunday, July 29, free, 2:00
718-592-9700
www.queensmuseum.org

On Saturday and Sunday, Taiwanese artist Chin Chih Yang will bury himself under a barrage of thirty thousand aluminum cans, making a statement about art, the environment, recycling, and overconsumption. The longtime New Yorker will present “Kill Me or Change” in front of the Queens Museum in Flushing Meadows Corona Park, a follow-up to his 2007 installation in Union Square Park, “123PollutionSolution,” in which he collected thirty-five thousand cans and ten thousand MetroCards and placed them in a rectangular arrangement on the ground. While you’re at the museum, you should go inside as well, where a five-dollar suggested donation will let you see such special exhibits as “Ada Bobonis: Stages, Mountains, Water” and “Caribbean: Crossroads of the World” and such long-term shows as “A Watershed Moment: Celebrating the Homecoming of the Relief Map of the New York City Water Supply System” and the spectacular “Panorama of the City of New York.”

BROOKLYN BOOK FESTIVAL

Former honoree Paul Auster will talk with 2010 BoBi award winner John Ashbery during Brooklyn Book Festival (photo by twi-ny/mdr)

Multiple locations in Brooklyn
Sunday, September 12, free, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
www.brooklynbookfestival.org

The fifth annual Brooklyn Book Festival takes place on Sunday, September 12, with a host of literary events at such locations as the Borough Hall Courtroom, St. Francis College Auditorium, and the Brooklyn Historical Society. The festival opens at 10:00 in the morning with the promising “It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (But I Like It),” with Steve Almond, Jennifer Egan, and Colson Whitehead reading from music-inspired writings, followed by a Q&A, as well as Stewart O’Nan, Siri Hustvedt, and T Cooper discussing “How Things Shake Out.” Jon Scieszka, E. Lockhart, and Mac Barnett will team up for “You’ve Got to Be Kidding,” Paul Krugman and Robin Wells will converse about “The Economic Crisis and What to Do About It,” Naomi Klein, Kurt Andersen, Jordan Flaherty, and Paul Reyes will get serious for “The Culture of Disaster: How Crisis Defines America,” while Kate Christensen, Sam Lipsyte, and Rakesh Satyal will get personal for “Me . . . in the World.” Amy Goodman and David Zirin will lead a tribute to the late Howard Zinn, Paul Auster will talk with 2010 BoBi award winner John Ashbery, Sarah Silverman will get down and dirty with David Rakoff, and Cristina Garcia, Steven Millhauser, and Peter Straub will delve into “Hallucinations of Your Neighbors.” Among the dozens of other participants are Dennis Lehane, Bernice L. McFadden, Michael Connelly, Francine Prose, Matthew Sharpe, Jacqueline Woodson, Phillip Lopate, Kristin Hersh, John Hodgman, Kristen Schaal, Adam Haslett, Kate Milford, Ben Katchor, Jessica Abel, Melvin Van Peebles, Mona Simpson, Pete Hamill, Venus Williams, Charles Fuller, and many, many more. Although all programs are free, some require advanced tickets, which will be distributed an hour before the presentation. There will also be a bevy of “bookend events” held September 10-12 at Light Industry, Greenlight Bookstore, Coco 66, the Bell House, powerHouse Arena, BAM Rose Cinemas, St. Ann’s Warehouse, and other spots, featuring film screenings, flash readings, live music, cocktail hours, and pizza; highlights include Rob Sheffield chatting up TALKING TO GIRLS ABOUT DURAN DURAN, Carolyn Kellogg in “An Intimate Conversation with John Waters,” Russell Banks discussing Atom Egoyan’s 1997 adaptation of his novel THE SWEET HEREAFTER after a screening of the film, live performances by Mountains and Lymbyc Systym, and a free showing of COSMOS: A PERSONAL VOYAGE in Brooklyn Bridge Park, complete with telescopes.

SILENCE AND NOISE PART 1

Radian will team up with labelmates Mountains for Unsound Festival show

UNSOUND FESTIVAL
le poisson rouge
158 Bleecker St.
Wednesday, February 10, $15, 7:00
212-228-4854
www.unsound.pl
www.myspace.com/lepoissonrougenyc

Poland’s Unsound Festival is currently under way in New York City for the first time, featuring 11 days of modern music from all over the world through February 14, at such venues as Lincoln Center, Public Assembly, the Goethe-Institut Wyoming Building, Harvestworks, and Issue Project Room. The series includes electronic music workshops for children, an art show, a tribute to Andy Warhol, panel discussions, and plenty of cool concerts, with performances by Finland’s Vladislav Delay, England’s Untold, Germany’s Jan Jelinek, Switzerland’s Kadebostan, Ukraine’s Zavoloka, Poland’s Zenial, Holland’s Legowelt, New York’s Alexander Kaline, and dozens more. One of the best lineups of the fest occurs on February 10 at le poisson rouge, when “Silence and Noise Part 1” features Kids Electronic Music Band, America’s Mountains, Sweden’s Tape, Austria’s Radian, and Canada’s Tim Hecker. Friends since middle school, Brendon Anderegg and Koen Holtkamp founded the music label Apestaartje in 1999 and shortly after that formed the group Mountains. Working and living in Brooklyn, the duo released two albums last year on Thrill Jockey, CHORAL and ETCHING, featuring monumentally minimalist electronic soundscapes mixing guitar, binaural field recordings, live sampling, and other subtle instrumentation primarily recorded live in their Brooklyn studio. The duo’s beautiful, hypnotic compositions take listeners on intriguing musical journeys that range from about two minutes to more than twelve, welcoming all comers into a mesmerizing, meditative, masterfully melodic experience. Labelmates Radian recently released their first album in five years, CHIMERIC, with Martin Brandlmayr, Stefan Nemeth, and John Norman displaying a somewhat calmer side to their electronic music on such songs as “Git Cut Noise” and “Feedback Mikro / City Lights,” with more bass, guitar, and drums added to the computerized samples and sequencing.