Between Lands VR Installation Premiere (MFA)

"You are not surprised at the force of the storm — you have seen it growing...

Now you must go out into your heart
as onto a vast plain.
Now the immense loneliness begins...

Through the empty branches the sky remains.
It is what you have."
(Rilke, Book of Hours II, 1)

Who, really, doesn't know darkness? Whether it's personal, societal, environmental, or political, we know it all too well. So what then does it mean to be a light? "Between Lands”, an audio/visual experience that blurs the line between our physical and digital lives, attempts to answer that very question. Using virtual reality technology, the installation experiments with new forms of social interaction; participants communicate between two separate realities to illuminate a series of beacons, gradually bringing light into a darkened world. The piece, created by Mike Mandel, Jeff Hesser, Dare Matheson, Dawn Rivers, Tim Zylicz, and Dan Egan, with music by Guy Mendilow and myself, premieres this evening at the MFA in Boston.

Utilizing new technology from HTC and Valve, one participant will wear a headset that reveals a fantastical alternate reality within the space of the exhibit.  Carrying a digital torch, they will navigate the exhibit seeking to illuminate each beacon one at a time. Their torch will only stay lit if they follow a secret path, visible only to the audience and a second participant.  This participant will guide the torch carrier on a journey through a series of hidden portals, revealing dark hallways and open vistas, culminating in an explosion of color and sound when a new beacon is successfully illuminated.  As each of the 8 beacons are lit, the room transforms from a dark and mysterious place to a vibrant and joyful one. 

UPDATE

Press:

http://www.mfa.org/programs/special-event/virtual-reality-experience-between-lands-0

http://vrfocus.com/archives/26275/vr-experience-between-lands-debuting-at-museum-of-fine-arts-in-boston/ 

http://stringwindertheory.tumblr.com/post/134932366632/between-lands

Photos:

Installation setup

Recording vocals

Torch and lantern bearer

VR screenshot

Bent Knee Signs With Cuneiform Records

I'm humbled and honored to announce that Bent Knee will be releasing our next album under the legendary Cuneiform Records label in May 2016. Our sound has always existed in the nooks and crannies just outside of the mainstream, and it’s exciting to have finally found a home that fully supports the music we’re interested in making. Here’s to the next chapter — we can’t wait for you all to hear what we’ve been cooking up in the lab.

Full press release below:

Cuneiform Records is thrilled to announce the signing of Boston, MA art-rock band Bent Knee. The group will release their third album, a follow-up to 2014’s Shiny Eyed Babies, on the label in May 2016.

For the past thirty years, Cuneiform has been widely recognized as an international force in the world of the avant-garde and cutting-edge, championing artists that organically fuse elements from various styles to form vibrant, evocative, and forward-thinking music. In this respect, they’re the perfect home for Bent Knee, a band that has defied genre since its inception in 2009. The group bridges the gap between the experimental and the familiar, merging texture and style into music that’s moving, addictive, and unapologetically original.

You can listen to Shiny Eyed Babies in its entirety at https://goo.gl/SlZcI3

Press for Shiny Eyed Babies:
"Unbelievably powerful.” -The Needle Drop
"Maddening brilliance." -Best New Bands
"A powerful exercise in restraint and release." -Consequence of Sound
"Musical transcendence." -The Noise
"Demands to be talked about." -DigBoston
"Defining modern music." -No Ripcord
"Absorbing and absolutely incomprehensible." -The Bay Bridged
"A magnificent work of art. Album of the year." -Seattle Passive Aggressive
"Rock wins again." -Sound It Out

Guy Mendilow Ensemble Kicks Off Fall Tour

Guy Mendilow Ensemble's tour of the Pacific Northwest begins tomorrow night in Red Bluff, CA. The group will be performing "Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom", a collection of compositions originating from old melodies and songs from the Ladino tradition.

About Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom:

Embark on a musical trek to kingdoms long forgotten and bustling towns now vanished. Follow the stories of vagabond queens, pauper poets and lovers lost to the sea, all set to spellbinding arrangements of old Sephardi songs worthy of symphonic film scores. Wrap these tales up with lush soulful harmonies evoking Flamenco's gutsiness and the longings of Fado, all combined with heart-pounding percussion and intricate soundscapes.

Journey through the Balkans to the Mid-East beginning in Sarajevo and winding through Salonica and Jerusalem. Tales from the Forgotten Kingdom is a sonic adventure masterfully brought to life by the Guy Mendilow Ensemble, an award-winning quintet of world-class musicians with members hailing from Israel, Palestine, Argentina, the UK and the USA. This ensemble of internationally savvy world musicians delivers a richly textured global experience of haunting beauty.

For more information, visit http://guymendilow.com

Fall Tour Dates

Sep 20 | State Theatre - Red Bluff, CA

Sep 24 | Jones Theatre - Pullman, WA

Sep 25 | Faith Assembly Church - Pasco, WA

Sep 26 | Gesa Powerhouse Theatre - Walla Walla, WA

Sep 29 | Kilworth Memorial Chapel - Tacoma, WA

Oct 01 | Western Washington University - Bellingham, WA

Oct 02 | Evergreen Cultural Centre - Coquitlam, Canada

Oct 05 | Port Theatre - Nanaimo, Canada

Oct 07 | Kelly Ethnic Cultural Theatre - Seattle, WA

Oct 08 | Lincoln Performance Hall - Portland, OR

Output Releases REV X-Loops

Chris recently collaborated with Output, recording violin loops and performances for their newly released "REV X-Loops" sample library. Check out the video for a demo of the virtual instrument, and visit http://output.com/products/rev-xloops for more information on the product.

Battle Creek - Live on Spare Room Sessions

Allston Pudding just premiered Bent Knee's live performance video of "Battle Creek", filmed and produced by Fitz Ross Productions in glorious black and white. 

Via Allston Pudding:

"Bent Knee is one of the tightest bands in Boston, combining masterful technical skill and sweeping emotional suites to form a sound that rarely comes through the scene, if ever. Their live act is one not to be missed."

Read more at http://allstonpudding.com/premiere-battle-creek-by-bent-knee/

Video link: https://youtu.be/11Akbo0VEKw

On Being Slightly Obscure & Making Music For Music Lovers

Via Vanyaland:

"Bent Knee scan as perfectly well-adjusted, responsible, healthy, hard-working, productive members of society who pose no physical or psychic threat to anyone. But I don’t buy it. 

Frankly, while Skyping with four of the six Bent Knee affiliates — as they soaked in some downtime from a 50-commitment D.I.Y. cross-country tour at their synth player’s mom’s house somewhere outside Atlanta — I suspected they concealed their true nature, possibly for my own protection. “Normal” people couldn’t play in this band. 

Now, if keyboardist/vocalist Courtney Swain, guitarist Ben Levin, violinist Chris Baum, and bassist Jessica Kion had shown up to this interview decked out as if lately banished from a steampunk convention, and told me last year’s Shiny Eyed Babies was actually written by succubi and essences of long-dead silent film stars conjured during chaos magic rituals… that, I would’ve believed. 

The Boston-based band regularly get tagged with the “genre-defying” cliche — which sorta, kinda fits. But even if they don’t have a genre, they do fall into an aesthetic tradition alongside the likes of Reverend Glasseye, early years Dresden Dolls, HUMANWINE, Beat Circus, and other Boston art rock organizations who refused to make music that could possibly bore anyone. But make no mistake: this ostensibly non-threatening gang of ex-Berklee kids do not color outside the lines. It only sounds that way to the rest of us, because only Bent Knee know what the picture is supposed to look like.

Following their welcome home show Sunday at O’Brien’s In Allston, Bent Knee tell us they’re on their way to Q Division Studios to forge a fresh collection of tunes, tentatively scheduled for mass consumption in the spring of ‘16. The new material has been described as “charmingly incohesive” and “less sad” than Shiny Eyed’satmosphere of amped up melancholia. “[That record] was full of blockbusters, I suppose,” notes Baum, midway through this correspondence. “And this is more like indie films.”

Continued at http://www.vanyaland.com/2015/08/12/interview-bent-knee-on-being-slightly-obscure-living-life-on-the-road-and-making-music-for-lovers-of-music/