Sat April 30
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Dopplereffekt, Awesome Tapes from Africa & more
@ Nowhere Festival
Rome
Italy
nowherefestival.it/about.html
Mon May 2
Oren Ambarchi & Thomas Brinkmann duo
+ Peter Rehberg/Marcus Schmickler duo
Inner Spaces #5
@ Teatro Auditorium San Fedele/ Duomo San Babila a Milan
Milan
Italy
-eventi.it/innerspaces-5-rs-peter-rehberg-marcus-schmickler-oren/60215
Tue May 10
Oren Ambarchi and Will Guthrie duo
@ Cafe Oto
London
UK
www.cafeoto.co.uk/events/oren-ambarchi-will-guthrie/
Wed May 11
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Heather Leigh
@ The Glad Cafe
Glasgow
UK
www.thegladcafe.co.uk/tickets.html
Thu May 12
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ The Jimmy Cake
@ Bello Bar
Dublin
Ireland
bellobardublin.com/
Fri May 13
Oren Ambarchi & Will Guthrie duo
+ Flamingods & Corridor
@ Wine Nat White Heat festival
Nantes
France
wine-nat-white-heat.blogspot.it/
Sun May 15
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Mark Fell solo, Crys Cole solo
@ Cave12
Geneva
Switzerland
Fri May 27
Oren Ambarchi / crys cole / Giuseppe Ielasi trio
@ Standards
Via Privata Angiolo Maffucci, 26
Milano
Italy
www.standardstudio.it/
Sat June 4
Ash Ra Tempel Experience (Manuel Gottsching, Ariel Pink, Shags Chamberlain, Oren Ambarchi)
@ Kilbi Festival
Bad Bonn
Switzerland
kilbi.badbonn.ch/2016/_rubric/index.php?rubric=Programm#1
Thu June 16
Menstruation Sisters (Nik Kamvissis aka Rizili & Oren Ambarchi)
Lodgers #6 Ultra Eczema
@ AIR Antwerpen
Officierswoningen Brialmont
Kielsevest 23 – 25 / 31 – 33
Antwerp
Belgium
www.airantwerpen.be/nl/samenwerkingen/lodgers-6-ultra-eczema
Sun June 19
Menstruation Sisters (Nik Kamvissis aka Rizili & Oren Ambarchi)
+ crys cole solo
@ Standards
Via Privata Angiolo Maffucci, 26
Milano
Italy
www.standardstudio.it/
Tue June 21
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Common Eider King Eider & Gabriel Saloman
@ Bunker, via Paganini 0/200,
Torino
Italy
www.variantebunker.com/
Fri July 1
Oren Ambarchi / Mark Fell / crys cole / Sandro Mussida / Olivia Salvadori / Rebecca Salvadori / Jan Hendrickse collaboration
@ Orto Botanico
Rome
Italy
www.tuttoquestosentire.com/2016-Edition
Tue July 19
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ more!
@ Studio Strauss
Jerusalem
Israel
www.facebook.com/Studiostraus/
Thu July 21
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Levontin 7
Tel Aviv
Israel
www.levontin7.com/?post_type=events&p=16290
Sun July 24
Fire! with Oren Ambarchi
Konfrontationen 2016
Jazzgalerie
Nickelsdorf
Austria
www.konfrontationen.at/
Wed July 27
Fire! with Oren Ambarchi
+ Sarah Neufeld solo + Massimo Puppilo/Daniel O’Sullivan duo
@ A’L’ARME festival
Berghain
Berlin
Germany
alarmefestival.de/
Thu July 28
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ TBC
Warsaw
Poland
Blog Archives
Live Shows Summer 2016
Live Shows Spring 2016
Sat March 3
Oren Ambarchi & Tetuzi Akiyama duo
+ Nik Kamvissis, Jessika Kenney, Eyvind Kang, Cor Fuhler, Jim Denley & more
@ Tectonics
Adelaide Festival
Adelaide
Australia
www.adelaidefestival.com.au/2016/music/Tectonics_Adelaide
Sun April 3
Oren Ambarchi / Jim O’Rourke / Joe Talia / Tatsuhisa Yamamoto quartet
+ Darin Grey / Eiko Ishibashi duo
@ SuperDeluxe
Tokyo
Japan
www.super-deluxe.com/room/4073/
Wed April 6
crys cole/Oren Ambarchi duo
+ crys cole/Seijiro Murayama duo
+ DJ Jim O’Rourke
@ SuperDeluxe
Tokyo
Japan
www.super-deluxe.com/room/4086/
Thu April 14
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ The Exploratorium
San Francisco
USA
www.exploratorium.edu/arts/resonance
Live Shows Early 2016
Sat Jan 9
Crys Cole & Oren Ambarchi duo
+ Francis Plagne band
@ Eastmint
Melbourne
Australia
facebook.com/events/1685730511638635/
Fri Jan 15
Fire! with Oren Ambarchi
@ MONA FOMA fest
Hobart
Tasmania
www.mofo.net.au/lineup/mona-pass/fire/
Sun Jan 17
Oren Ambarchi & Will Guthrie duo
@ MONA FOMA fest
Hobart
Tasmania
www.mofo.net.au/lineup/mona-pass/oren-ambarchi/
Tue Jan 19
Fire! with Oren Ambarchi & Mariam Wallentin
+ Joe Talia/Mats Gustafsson duo, Wildbirds & Peacedurms
@ Make It Up Club
Bar Open
Melbourne
Australia
makeitupclub.blogspot.com.au/
Live Shows Autumn 2015
Thu Oct 8
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Biosphere/Deathprod
@ Bozar Electronic Arts Festival
Brussels
Belgium
www.bozar.be/en/activities/101572-bozar-electronic-arts-festival-2015
Sat Oct 10
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Matana Roberts
@ TRAFÓ KORTÁRS MŰVÉSZETEK HÁZA
1094 Budapest, Liliom
Budapest
Hungary
trafo.hu/hu-HU/matana_roberts-oren_ambarchi
Sun Oct 11
Rhys Chatham, Oren Ambarchi, Sam Shalabi trio
+ Stephen O’Malley/Richard Pinhas, Klara Lewis, Aaron Dilloway, Sleeparchive & more
@ Tusk Festival
Newcastle
UK
tuskfestival.com/
Mon Oct 12
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Heather Leigh, Tim Coster
@ The Glad Café
Glasgow
Scotland
www.musicglue.com/the-glad-cafe/events/12-oct-15-oren-ambarchi-the-glad-cafe/
Thu Oct 15
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘Knots’ with Will Guthrie
+ Arnold Dreyblatt, Philip Jeck
@ St Johns Sessions
St John at Hackney Church
London
UK
stjohnsessions.co.uk/
Sun Oct 18
Oren Ambarchi + ? duo
@ ______ Festival
Krakow
Poland
Wed Oct 28
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘Knots’ with Will Guthrie
+ Bill Orcutt
@ Kantine Am Berghain
Berlin
Germany
berghain.de/events/
Thu Oct 29
Oren Ambarchi (solo)
@ Jazz Ao Centro
Coimbra
Portugal
jazzaocentro.pt/
Sun Nov 1
Oren Ambarchi (solo)
+ Klara Lewis, Powell, Heatsick, Tim Hecker, Vessel, Roedelius & more
@ Semibreve Festival
Braga
Portugal
www.festivalsemibreve.com/en/artists
Wed Nov 4
Phew/Jim O’Rourke/Oren Ambarchi trio
@ CCA Live
Playhouse
Kitakyushu
Japan
cca-kitakyushu.org/?lang=en
Tues Nov 10
Jim O’Rourke/Oren Ambarchi/U-Zhaan trio
+ crys cole
@ SuperDeluxe
Tokyo
Japan
www.super-deluxe.com/room/3998/
Wed Nov 11
Keiji Haino/Jim O’Rourke/Oren Ambarchi trio
+ Eiko Ishibashi
@ SuperDeluxe
Tokyo
Japan
www.super-deluxe.com/room/3999/
Live Shows Summer 2015
Thu June 18
Nazoranai – Keiji Haino, Stephen O’Malley, Oren Ambarchi trio
+ Duran Duran, Die Antwoord, A$AP Rocky, FKA Twigs, Autechre, Arthur Baker, KTL, Mika Vainio, Powell, Lorenzo Senni, Evol, Klara Lewis, Russell Haswell, Lee Gamble, Robin Fox & more
@ Sonar
Barcelona
Spain
sonar.es/en/2015/prg/ar/nazoranai-%28stephen-o%E2%80%99malley-oren-ambarchi-keiji-haino%29_553
Tue June 23
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Keith Fullerton Whitman
+ Eli Keszler
@ Wayward Sounds
3S Artspace
319 Vaughan St.
Portsmouth, NH
USA
www.3sarts.org/performances/performance/Wayward-Sounds:-Oren-Ambarchi,-Keith-Fullerton-Whitman-&-Eli-Keszler?performanceid=1009
Thu June 25
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Drab Pony
@ The Space Gallery
538 Congress Street,
Portland,
ME
USA
www.space538.org/events/oren-ambarchi-drab-pony
Sun June 28
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Little Black Egg Big Band: Yo La Tengo & friends
@ Pioneer Works
159 Pioneer St
Brooklyn
New York 11231
USA
issueprojectroom.org/event/little-black-egg-yo-la-tengo-oren-ambarchi
Mon June 29
Oren Ambarchi & Crys Cole duo
@ Invite-only event
Brooklyn
New York
USA
Sat August 8
Manuel Göttsching presents the music of Ash Ra Tempel with:
Manuel Göttsching, Ariel Pink, Shags Chamberlain and Oren Ambarchi
@ Supersense Festival
Melbourne
Australia
www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/supersense
Sat August 8
Oren Ambarchi’s “Audience of one” featuring Joe Talia
@ Supersense Festival
Melbourne
Australia
www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/supersense
Live Shows Spring 2015
Sat April 11
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Rashad Becker, Phurpa, Kapital and more
@ Trans/wizji Festival
Krakow
Poland
sklep.okultura.pl/festiwal-trans-wizje-6-bilet-na-11-kwietnia.html
Sun April 19
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Rhys Chatham/Tim Dahl/Kevin Shea
+ Gunter Schickert & Pharaoh Chromium
@ Vooruit
Ghent
Belgium
www.vooruit.be
Tue April 21
Oren Ambarchi/Massimo Pupillo/Stefano Pilia trio
@ Freakout Club
Bologna
Italy
www.facebook.com/events/438134543017752/
Wed April 22
Oren Ambarchi & Massimo Pupillo duo
@ Handmades Festival
Rome
Italy
www.handmadesfestival.it
Sat April 25
Fire! Orchestra w/Oren Ambarchi & David Sandstrom
@ Orion Theatre
Stockholm
Sweden
www.orionteatern.se/pa-scen/orion-is-on-fire–klubb-fire/
Tue April 28
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Fonden Voxhall
Aarhus
Denmark
fondenvoxhall.dk/koncerter/oren-ambarchi/
Wed April 29
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Senyawa
@ Jazzhouse
Copenhagen
Denmark
www.jazzhouse.dk/jazzklub/oren-ambarchi-au-senyawa-id
Thu April 30
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Klara Lewis
+ Mats Lindstrom
@ Folk
Gothenburg
Sweden
www.goteborg.com/en/folk/
Sat May 2
Oren Ambarchi with Will Guthrie
+ The Bug, Chris Corsano, Gnod, Jac Berrocal, Jenny Hval & Susanna, Neneh Cherry, RP Boo, Shabazz Palaces & more
@ Rewire Festival
The Hague
Netherlands
www.rewirefestival.nl
Sun May 3
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Stadtgarten
Koln
Germany
www.stadtgarten.de/?m=event&id=9037
Tue May 5
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ PITA, Bill Kouligas
@ Kantine am Berghain
Berlin
Germany
berghain.de/event/1301
Sun May 10
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Rhiz
Vienna
Austria
rhiz.org
Mon May 11
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Multiplace Festival
Praha/Forum for Architecture and Media
Brno
Czech Republic
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1065799283446843
Tue May 12
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Multiplace Festival
A4-Zero Space
Bratislava
Slovakia
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1065799283446843
Wed May 13
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Antilles
@ Instants Chavires
Paris
France
www.instantschavires.com/spip.php?article1175
Tue May 19
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Club Mocvara
Zagreb
Croatia
www.mochvara.hr/
Thu May 21
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Grim Festival
Marseille
France
www.grim-marseille.com/grim/le_lieu.html
Mon May 25
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Dean Roberts
@ Standards
Milan,
Italy
Live Shows North America | March 2015
Mon March 2
Oren Ambarchi & Crys Cole duo
@ UCSD
9500 Gilman Dr,La Jolla
San Diego
USA
www.facebook.com/events/1597796050455596/?pnref=story
Thu March 5
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Carlos Giffoni
+ Ora Clementi (James Rushford & Crys Cole)
@ Jewels Catch One
4067 W Pico Blvd, Los Angeles,
CA
USA
catchonenightclub.com
Wed March 11
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Visiting Nurse
@ The New Vintage
Louisville
Kentucky
USA
othersideoflife.wordpress.com/tag/oren-ambarchi/
Thu March 12
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Fairchild Chapel
Oberlin College
Oberlin
USA
oberlinmmg.wordpress.com
Sat March 14
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Swervedriver
+ more
@ Levitation Chicago
Thalia Hall
1807 S. Allport St.
Chicago, IL
USA
thaliahallchicago.com/#!/
Tue March 24
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Tim Hecker
@ The Independent
San Francisco
USA
www.theindependentsf.com
Thu March 26
Oren Ambarchi & Crys Cole duo
+ Sarah Davachi
@ VIVO Media Art Centre
Vancouver
Canada
www.vivomediaarts.com
OREN AMBARCHI – ‘QUIXOTISM’
Live show:
Wed Dec 3
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Robin Fox
+ Marco Fusinato
@ Everybody Talks About The Weather
Corner Hotel, Richmond, Melbourne, Australia
cornerhotel.com
Oren Ambarchi – guitars and percussion
with
Thomas Brinkmann – computable drums with an application to the Entscheidungsproblem (Parts 1-5)
Matt Chamberlain – drums & electronics (Parts 3 & 4)
Crys Cole – contact mics & brushes (Part 4)
Eyvind Kang – bowed gender (Part 1) & violas (Part 5)
Jim O’ Rourke – synths (Parts 4 & 5)
John Tilbury – piano (Parts 1 & 2)
U-zhaan – tabla (Part 5)
Ilan Volkov & the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra (Parts 1 & 3)
Recorded 2012-2014 in Cologne (Max Ernst Studios), Reykjavik (Harpa), Melbourne, Seattle (Avast! Studios – session co-produced & engineered by Randall Dunn, London, Los Angeles (Cyclops Sound Studio) and Tokyo (Steamroom – engineered by Jim O’Rourke)
Mixed Dec 2013 & March 2014 at Chinatown, Melbourne by Joe Talia and Oren Ambarchi
Mastered at Moose, Melbourne March-April 2014 by Byron Scullin
Vinyl cut by Rashad Becker & D&M, Berlin, June 2014
Photography by Estelle Hanania
Design by Stephen O’ Malley
Recorded with a multitude of collaborators in Europe, Japan, Australia and the USA, Quixotism presents the fruit of two years of work in the form of a single, LP-length piece in five parts. Ambarchi’s work in recent years has evinced an increasing fascination with the possibilities of combining abstract sonic textures with rhythm and pulse, whether in his drumming with Keiji Haino, the subtly driving ride cymbals provided by drummer Joe Talia in their work together, or the motorik grooves of Sagittarian Domain (Editions Mego, 2012). Quixotism takes this aspect of Ambarchi’s recent work to the next level: the entirety of this long-form work is built on a foundation of pulsing double-time electronic percussion provided by Thomas Brinkmann. Beginning as almost subliminal propulsion behind cavernous orchestral textures and John Tilbury’s delicate piano interjections, the percussive elements (elaborated on by Ambarchi and Matt Chamberlain) slowly inch into the foreground of the piece before suddenly breaking out into a polyrhythmic shuffle around the halfway mark, being joined by master Japanese tabla player U-zhaan for the piece’s final, beautiful passages.
The pulse acts as thread leading the listener though a heterogeneous variety of acoustic spaces, from the concert hall in which the Icelandic Symphony Orchestra were recorded to the intimacy of Crys Cole’s contact-mic textures. Ambarchi’s guitar itself ranges over this wide variety of acoustic spaces, from airless, clipped tones to swirling, reverberated fog. Within the complex web Ambarchi spins over the piece’s steadily pulsing foundation, elements approach and recede, appear and reappear, in a non-linear fashion, even as the piece plots an overall course from the grey, almost Nono-esque reverberated space of its opening section to the crisp foreground presence of Jim O’Rourke’s synth and Evyind Kang’s strings in its final moments. Formally indebted to the side-long workouts of classic Cologne techno, the long-form works of composers such as Eliane Radigue, and the organic push and pull of improvised performance, Quixotism is constantly in motion, yet its transitions happen slowly and steadily, so that they are often nearly imperceptible, the diverse elements which make up the piece succeeding one another with the logic of a dream.
Anyone who follows Ambarchi’s work knows that it has many facets: explorations of the outer limits of rock with Keiji Haino, psychoacoustic interference and sizzling harmonics in his solo performances, delicate improvisations with Keith Rowe or John Tilbury. To all these projects, Ambarchi brings his particular sensibility, patiently allowing sounds to develop on their own terms without forsaking their intrinsic physical and emotional power. Similarly, although Quixotism is shaped by its many contributors, the resulting sound world is unmistakably Ambarchi’s own. His most substantial solo release since Audience of One (Touch, 2012), Quixotism represents the summation of Ambarchi’s work over the last few years while also pointing to the future.
Live Shows Autumn 2014
Thu Oct 23
Okkyung Lee,/Jim O’Rourke/Oren Ambarchi trio
@ Playhouse
Kita Kyushu Performing Arts Center
Kita Kyushu
Japan
cca-kitakyushu.org/english/
Tue Oct 28
Keiji Haino/Jim O’Rourke/Oren Ambarchi trio
@SuperDeluxe
Roppongi
Tokyo
Japan
www.super-deluxe.com/room/3759/
Sat Nov 1
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Eiko Ishibashi & the Already Dead, Seichi Yamamoto, Alan Licht, Akira Sakata & more!
@ SuperDeluxe – Car and Freezer festival 2014
Roppongi
Tokyo
Japan
www.super-deluxe.com/room/3739/
Sun Nov 2
Okkyung Lee & Oren Ambarchi workshop
@ Yangjiri Village
Cheorwon
South Korea
Sat Nov 8
crys cole & Oren Ambarchi duo
+ Robert Piotrowicz, Goh Lee Kwang, Arnont Nongyao
@ Bangkok Art & Culture Centre
Bangkok
Thailand
http://en.bacc.or.th/event/DRIFT.html
Live in LA | 13th October 2014
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ William Basinski, Matthew Sullivan
@ Jewels Catch One
4067 W Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA, 90019, USA
Tickets – Jewels Catch One
Live Shows September 2014
Wed Sept 3
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ crys cole, Rosa Reaper
@ Windsor Hotel
Winnipeg
Canada
www.facebook.com/events/373121449505897/
Tue Sept 9
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Rönnells Antikvariat
Birger Jarlsgatan 32
114 29 Stockholm
www.facebook.com/events/694736317285402/?fref=ts
Thu Sept 11
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Rashad Becker
@ 90db Festival
Rome
Italy
www.90dbfestival.org
Sun Sept 14
Oren Ambarchi & Johan Berthling duo
+ lll人, Rie Nakajima, Shelley Parker, Part wild horses mane on both sides
@ Dear Serge
De La Warr Pavillion
Bexhill
UK
www.cafeoto.co.uk/de-la-warr-pavilion-de-serge.shtm
Sun Sept 21
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Ex Easter Island Head
@ Corsica Studios
London
UK
www.corsicastudios.com/whats-on/september-2014/baba-yagas-hut-pres-oren-ambarchi/
Sat Sept 27
John Tilbury & Oren Ambarchi duo
+ Jon Hassell, Naqsh Duo
@ Glatt und Verkehrt Festival
Klangraum Krems Minoritenkirche
Krems
Austria
http://www.glattundverkehrt.at/festival-en/gesamtprogramm
OREN AMBARCHI – ‘STACTE KARAOKE’
12″ (Black Truffle 2014)
Two raw, ecstatic, face-melting guitar solos recorded in one take in the Ambarchi “Stacte tradition.” This time around, Ambarchi is backed up by a badass rhythm section from Texas, and together they ride the endless riff into the goddamn sunset.
RICHARD PINHAS/OREN AMBARCHI
“TIKKUN” CD/DVD (Cuneiform, USA 2014)
Richard Pinhas, the founder of 70s progressive legends Heldon, is one of the most uncompromising artists on the international rock scene, having remained constantly innovative and true to his personal artistic vision for 40 years and some 35 full length releases.
Oren Ambarchi is a guitarist, drummer and sound-artist who has performed and/or recorded with a huge array of artists, including Fennesz, John Zorn, Jim O’Rourke, Otomo Yoshihide, Evan Parker, Merzbow and others. Since 2004, he has worked with the avant-metal band Sunn O))), contributing to many of their releases and side- projects.
Pinhas and Ambarchi first recorded together when Ambarchi contributed to recordings that were eventually tied together with other contributors into Pinhas’ 2013’s release Desolation Row. Since that time they have been working on ideas, recordings and concert / live collaborations.
The personnel for Tikkun is: Oren Ambarchi-guitar Richard Pinhas-guitar, synth guitar, effects Joe Talia-drums, effects Masami Akita (Merzbow)-loops, noise, effects Duncan Pinhas-sequences, effects, noise Eric Borelva-additional drums Interestingly, Richard specifically thinks of this album as a duo project that was conceived as a duo project for himself and Oren, despite the very effective contributions of the other four musicians. The music on Tikkun, which consists of three very lengthy tracks, comes across as a very tasty cross between the heavy, synth-driven, sequencer beats of classic Heldon and the much more noisier aspects of Pinhas’ work over the last decade. In addition to the studio album, physical CD+DVD version also includes a DVD of a live performance of the duo. It was filmed at Paris’ main venue for experimental music, Les Instants Chavires, October 29, 2013.
AMBARCHI/O’MALLEY/DUNN
SHADE THEMES FROM KAIROS 2LP (Drag City, USA 2014)
“Shade Themes from Kairos is a new iteration of the dream for all the guitar freaks out there, bringing together a couple of singular players together, just to see what happens. In this case, the players were old friends and collaborators Oren Ambarchi and Stephen O’Malley, playing in a space engineered and co-populated by Randall Dunn. From the top, Shade Themes from Kairos is resonant as a collective inquest in sound, with all the players deeply immersed within the panorama they are creating. ‘That Space Between’ blows in from a distance, rolling rhythmically, with synthetic percussion chattering, before it settles into a stately pace, as the guitars wind ethereal around the procession. Under the beat lies always space, and as the cadential clusters drift off, metal chimes and keys sputter and dig deep and clean through the abyss.” Housed in a gatefold sleeve.
CRYS COLE/OREN AMBARCHI
“Sonja Henies vei 31″ LP (Planam, Italy 2014)
Recorded during a week-long sojourn in Norway, Sonja Henies vei 31 is a profoundly moving document of the personal and artistic union between Crys Cole and Oren Ambarchi. Abandoning their usual instrumental artillery, both performers make themselves vulnerable to the listener, undertaking a committed exploration of pure physical gesture. Surrounding an explicitly intimate duo performance is a hazy collage of field recordings, tape hiss, metallic clinks and wandering voices. This forces the listener to hover in a disorienting psychological space between a confronting real world, and a swirling dream-world. While the latter’s abstraction cannot penetrate the former’s emotional directness, both environments function to obscure one another’s meaning. What is most affecting for the listener is how he/she inadvertently becomes part of the record’s scenery: a dreamer, narrator and voyeur in equal parts. Sonja Henies vei 31is a brave personal statement, a celebration of the idyllic, and a tragic theater of emotional longing.” –James Rushford, Melbourne, 2014
OREN AMBARCHI/NEIL CAMPBELL/MICHAEL FLOWER
“LIVE AT TUSK FESTIVAL 2013″ LP (TUSK, UK 2014)
Every year, TUSK Festival puts together a first-time trio selected from the assembled genii performing that weekend.
Over the 3 festivals so far, this simple trick has produced some pretty incredible results. 2011 saw Alan Bishop, Bill Orcutt and Chris Corsano throw down together for the first time, a union they enjoyed so much that they’ve since repeated it elsewhere. 2012 saw us merge the awesome talents of Michael Morley (Dead C, Gate), Gary Smith and Steve Noble for more revelations in sound and slack-jawed wonderment.
And in 2013, we managed to devise a trio that without question produced one of the most incredible performances of TUSK (or any) Festival to date – the stratospheric trio of Oren Ambarchi, Neil Campbell and Michael Flower. Ambarchi starts out on guitar and effects through a vintage Leslie speaker, Campbell exploring his astral table-top network and his Vibracathedral Orchestra colleague Flower’s guitar taking Canned Heat into outer space. Into side 2, Ambarchi moves onto drums and we truly have lift off!
The 3 members of this trio each come with exquisite pedigrees: Ambarchi with his run of solo albums via the great Touch label and collaborations with everyone from Keiji Haino and Jim O’Rouke to Fennesz, Stephen O’Malley, Keith Rowe, Voice Crack and more; Campbell with his intergalactic Astral Social Club and Vibracathedral Orchestra output and collaborations with Richard Youngs, Deacer Pinga, Matthew Bower and others, and VCO ally Flower’s work solo, as half of Flower-Corsano Duo, plus his many albums as part of MV&EE.
So – pouring 3 musicians of this calibre into one 12” piece of vinyl would be expected to produce some highly flammable results, and this searing record without doubt lives upto all expectations.
KEIJI HAINO/JIM O’ROURKE/OREN AMBARCHI
“Only Wanting to Melt Beautifully Away Is It a Lack of Contentment That Stirs Affection for Those Things Said to Be as of Yet Unseen”
CD/LP Black Truffle BT011
“Begun as a one-off collaboration in 2009, the trio of Keiji Haino, Jim O’Rourke and Oren Ambarchi has now become a solid working group, refining its craft through a series of annual concerts at Tokyo’s legendary SuperDeluxe. Much of their recorded work has focused on their intense, ritualistic take on the rock power trio of electric guitar, bass and drums. Presenting the entire first set of the trio’s March 2013 concert at SuperDeluxe (the second set will follow on Black Truffle later this year), Only Wanting to Melt Beautifully Away Is It a Lack of Contentment That Stirs Affection for Those Things Said to Be as of Yet Unseen is their fifth release and blows the instrumental palette wide open for a single continuous piece focused on acoustic strings, synth, flute and percussion. Featuring one of Haino’s most delicate and moving recorded vocal performances, the opening section of the record takes the form of a spare duet between O’Rourke’s 12-string acoustic guitar and Haino’s kantele (a Finnish variant of the dulcimer), behind which Ambarchi provides a hovering backdrop of wine glass tones. While on previous releases the listener has often sensed that Haino was firmly in the driver’s seat, here O’Rourke takes center stage with an acoustic guitar performance that takes the lyricism of John Abercrombie or Ralph Towner and refracts it through the free improvisation tradition of his mentors Derek Bailey and Henry Kaiser. The atmosphere of meditative, abstracted song is reminiscent of some of Haino’s greatest recordings, such as the legendary Live in the First Year of the Heisei volumes recorded with Kan Mikami. After this stunningly beautiful opening sequence, the performance moves organically through a number of episodes, including a dramatic central passage in which Haino moves to synth and drum machine, crafting a current of raw electricity that unfurls slowly over the gently pulsing foundations of Ambarchi’s cymbals and builds to heights of manic intensity. When Haino later turns to wooden flute, Ambarchi answers him with nimble hand-drummed percussion in a passage that calls to mind Don Cherry’s liberated combination of free-jazz improvisation and non-Western musics. The trio’s move away from the power trio dynamic bespeaks a risk-taking and questing spirit that refuses to be satisfied with repeating past glories, and yet the organic, immersive flow of this single improvisation attests to the intuitive bond that has formed between them over the last five years. Exuding the signature mystery and emotion of Haino’s greatest works, this release is perhaps the strongest statement yet from this acclaimed trio, and holds out a tantalizing promise for everyone hooked on their continuing exploration of ‘those things said to be as of yet unseen.” [Francis Plagne]
Design by Stephen O’Malley with high quality live shots by Ujin Matsuo and stunning artwork by Norwegian noise legend Lasse Marhaug.
OREN AMBARCHI/ELI KESZLER
Vinyl Album – edition of 500
Instant free digital download on purchase.
Digital downloads will become available on the 25th.
ALPS by Oren Ambarchi & Eli Keszler is a seemingly inevitable collaboration of two musicians kicking against limits and genre definitions, recorded and presented with a similar disregard for anything but quality.
Two vinyl-side-long pieces that mix improv, noise, rock, and drone, this is never an easy listen but always a compelling one. Both musicians are compulsive collaborators, with individual oeuvres that span all those genres and others yet to be labelled, and this album reflects and distills their hard-working heritage.
Listening to ALPS is a discomforting, uneasy and massively rewarding exercise, which denies the listener any steady ground on which to stand.
The LP insert features liner notes by C. Spencer Yeh (Burning Star Core).
A very limited number of cover art posters is available for separate purchase. They measure appx 31.5 x 62 cm and are screenprinted on heavy 300 gsm Heritage White paperstock. Suitable for framing. These will be shipped in sturdy cardboard tubes.
Live Shows Spring 2014
Mon March 31
Nazoranai (Keiji Haino/Stephen O’Malley/Oren Ambarchi)
@ MOCAD
4454 Woodward Ave
Detroit
Michigan
USA
www.mocadetroit.org
Wed April 2
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘Knots’ with Joe Talia, Crys Cole, James Rushford, Judith Hamann, Erkki Veltheim & Sinfonietta Krakow
+ Evol
@ Unsound NYC
Issue Project Room
Brooklyn
New York
USA
issueprojectroom.org
Sat April 5
Oren Ambarchi solo
@ Lampo
Bond Chapel
1050 East 59th street
Chicago
USA
www.lampo.org/current/
Wed April 9
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Terminal Cheesecake
@ Kaserne Basel
Klybeckstr 1b
Basel
Switzerland
http://www.kaserne-basel.ch
Thu April 10
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘The Counterlife’ with Ensemble Phoenix Basel
+ Alan Courtis
@ Cave 12
Geneva
Switzerland
www.cave12.org
Fr April 11
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘The Counterlife’ with Ensemble Phoenix Basel
+ Alan Courtis
@ Kunstraum Walcheturm
Kanonengasse 20
Zurich
Switzerland
www.walcheturm.ch/
Sat April 12
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘The Counterlife’ with Ensemble Phoenix Basel
+ Alan Courtis
@ Gare Du Nord
Schwarzwaldalle 200
Basel
Switzerland
www.garedunord.ch
Sun April 13
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘The Counterlife’ with Ensemble Phoenix Basel
+ Alan Courtis
@ Gare Du Nord
Schwarzwaldalle 200
Basel
Switzerland
www.garedunord.ch
Thu April 17
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Le cercle des Mallissimalistes
@ Le Bourg
Rue De Bourg 51
Lausanne
Switzerland
www.le-bourg.ch
Thu May 1
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ James Ferraro, Peaches, Annie Sprinkle, Mykki Blanco & more
@ Donau Festival
Klangraum Krems
Krems
Austria
www.donaufestival.at
Sat May 17
Nazoranai (Keiji Haino/Stephen O’Malley/Oren Ambarchi)
+ Evan Parker & more
@ Victoriaville Festival
Victoriaville
Canada
fimav.qc.ca
Sun May 18
Oren Ambarchi solo
+ Keiji Haino solo + James Plotkin solo
@ Johnny Brenda’s
1201 N.Frankford Avenue
Philadelphia
PA
USA
www.arsnovaworkshop.com/events/keiji-haino-05-18-2014
Tue May 20
Nazoranai (Keiji Haino/Stephen O’Malley/Oren Ambarchi)
@ Empty Bottle
1035 N.Western Ave
Chicago
USA
emptybottle.com
Wed May 21
Nazoranai (Keiji Haino/Stephen O’Malley/Oren Ambarchi)
@ The Wick
260 Mesorole Street
Brooklyn
New York
USA
www.thewicknyc.com
Fri May 23
Oren Ambarchi & Stephen O’Malley perform Alvin Lucier’s ‘Criss Cross’, Iancu Dumitrescu’s ‘South Pole’ and more
+ Eyvind Kang, Jessika Kenney, Crys Cole & more
@ Tectonics NYC
Issue Project Room
Brooklyn
New York
USA
issueprojectroom.org
Fri June 13
Oren Ambarchi presents ‘Knots’ with Eyvind Kang, Joe Talia, Crys Cole & Sinfonietta Cracovia
+ Chic, Massive Attack, Richie Hawtin & more
@ Sonar
Barcelona
Spain
sonar.es
