NOTATIONS - a film by Vicki Bennet with a live score by Bill Orcutt, Rhodri Davies and Mark Sanders

-
Thu 31 October 2013 // 19:30 / Cinema

Sound And Music and Tusk Music present Vicki Bennett’s film-collage-as-visual-score Notations, with a live score from an amazing trio drawn together fro the first time: Harry Pussy guitar-mangler Bill Orcutt; UK free improv stalwart, drummer Mark Sanders; and genius harp improviser and adopted local hero, Rhodri Davies.

Notationshas been created by Vicki from hundreds of different film clips, where the content conceptually or literally portrays different kinds of ‘gestures’ or ‘instructions’ to be read by the improvising artists on stage as a visual score. This concert forms part of a tour for which Vicki and Tusk have recruited an impressive international cast of improvisers, each with radically different approaches and, as each show will feature a different combination of artists, every performance on the tour will be completely unique.

The event will also begin with a solo set by Bill Orcutt, followed by an audiovisual performance by People Like Us of Consequences (One Thing Leads To Another). Vicki Bennett is an influential figure in the field of audio visual collage, through her innovative sampling, appropriating and cutting up of found footage and archives. Using collage as her main form of expression, she creates audio recordings, films and radio that communicate a humorous, dark and often surreal view on life. Vicki operates under the moniker People Like Us and promotes an open access to archives for creative use. In 2006 she was the first artist to be given unrestricted access to the entire BBC Archive. People Like Us have previously shown work at, amongst others, Tate Modern, The Barbican, Royal Albert Hall, Pompidou Center, Centro de Cultura Digital, Maxxi and Sonar, and performed radio sessions for John Peel and Mixing It. The ongoing sound art radio show 'DO or DIY' on WFMU has had over a million "listen again" downloads since 2003. The People Like Us back catalogue is available for free download hosted by UbuWeb. Vicki recently completed 2 films for Animate Projects/Channel 4 television, UK as part of their Random Acts Series.

Bill Orcutt first came to attention as guitarist in Miami band Harry Pussy, famed for their frenetic and discordant performances and his then-wife Adris Hoyo’s seminally fiery primitive/spasmodic drumming. Harry Pussy imploded in the late 90s but Orcutt re-emerged in 2009 with A New Way To Pay Old Debts, a truly guttural home-recorded stream-of-consciousness via battered guitar with only 4 strings left and occasional involuntary vocalisations. Has since released records via Editions Mego as well as his own Palilalia imprint, and formed an occasional duo with Chris Corsano.

http://palilalia.com/

Our favourite Rhodri Davies story concerns his being booed off stage for destroying his instrument at a very conservative harp festival. Davies takes this traditional instrument and does very un-traditional things with it, from applying dry ice to the strings to make them squeal to constructing installations that play it with wind and water. Regular collaborators include David Toop, John Tilbury and John Butcher and such luminaries as Elian Radigue, Christian Wolff and Yasunao Tone have composed specifically for him.

http://www.rhodridavies.com/

Mark Sanders is a drummer and key part of the UK free music scene with an astounding list of collaborators from Derek Bailey to Okkyung Lee, Charles Gayle and William Parker. Mark has performed all over the world and released over 120 cds and also forms a rhythm section with bassist John Edwards in a number of groups.

http://www.marksanders.me.uk/

Doors 7.30pm

Tickets £8 advance, £10 on the door

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/239354

http://peoplelikeus.org/2013/notations-tour/

http://vimeo.com/73812816