10.23.2018
Recent Releases vol 2
As I mentioned in a previous post, I released a few short albums recently that I'd love for you to listen to. The second is Deliverer, which is in the sub-micro-genre Dungeon Folk (most often this means music composed in the fashion of dungeon synth but with acoustic instruments in addition to or instead of synths). It is one of the most traditional-sounding dungeon-related albums I've composed, although also has some unavoidable (to me) references to Scandinavian fiddle music and Jewish nigunim. The music was recorded entirely using accordion, tambourine, recorder, and a few layers of my voice. As with the previous release, there's a bit of a short story worked into the album's text on Bandcamp, which may change your experience with the music a bit.
10.17.2018
Upcoming shows and recent releases (vol 1)
Hey all.
Some music of mine has come out recently. I'm going to break it up into a few posts.
The first is "Ash-Stained Cabinet", from a new folk-inspired dungeon synth project entitled Kolessa. The project came as a result of trying some recording on 4-track cassette recorder as a way to break up the flow of some very intensive digital mixing on another project, and once again the directness and simplicity of working with a four track proved to be a creative boon. The project is named after a musicologist and ethnographer from Ukraine, and the flavor text on the album is a kind of fictionalized story connected to him and a certain museum in Vienna...
Stream/Download HERE
I'm performing a few times this week - Thursday, October 18th at The State House in New Haven with Dr. Caterwauls on a stacked bill as part of Elm City Noisefest. The headliners are Coup De Grace, a noise/improv collective reuniting for this event, and there will be sets by Underwear, Nothing Israel, Afraid and Bizarre Rooms as well. Show starts at 8PM! Then Saturday, October 20th with the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio at OrchardStraße in New Haven, also a Noisefest event. Then on November 3rd I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer Band at the Slifka Center on Wall Street in New Haven. This concert is free and we have a great new lineup of players to support the returning students. That show begins at 7:30. Later in the month, on November 9th, I'll be doing a solo accordion set at OrchardStraße in support of the album release and tour kickoff of Matt Gannon/Michael Larocca duo. Further info on that is incoming.
Some music of mine has come out recently. I'm going to break it up into a few posts.
The first is "Ash-Stained Cabinet", from a new folk-inspired dungeon synth project entitled Kolessa. The project came as a result of trying some recording on 4-track cassette recorder as a way to break up the flow of some very intensive digital mixing on another project, and once again the directness and simplicity of working with a four track proved to be a creative boon. The project is named after a musicologist and ethnographer from Ukraine, and the flavor text on the album is a kind of fictionalized story connected to him and a certain museum in Vienna...
Stream/Download HERE
I'm performing a few times this week - Thursday, October 18th at The State House in New Haven with Dr. Caterwauls on a stacked bill as part of Elm City Noisefest. The headliners are Coup De Grace, a noise/improv collective reuniting for this event, and there will be sets by Underwear, Nothing Israel, Afraid and Bizarre Rooms as well. Show starts at 8PM! Then Saturday, October 20th with the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio at OrchardStraße in New Haven, also a Noisefest event. Then on November 3rd I'll be performing with the Yale Klezmer Band at the Slifka Center on Wall Street in New Haven. This concert is free and we have a great new lineup of players to support the returning students. That show begins at 7:30. Later in the month, on November 9th, I'll be doing a solo accordion set at OrchardStraße in support of the album release and tour kickoff of Matt Gannon/Michael Larocca duo. Further info on that is incoming.
9.03.2018
Excavernous Tales release, and two shows
Now available: Excavernous Tales, a split release with Sreng (the artist formerly known as Argonath). 12 tracks of brooding, subterranean dungeon synth, available at The Nahadoth Bandcamp Page. A tape edition will be available soon from Celtic Wraith Records.
Coming up, after talking about it for awhile, I’m near to complete with preparations to launch the first releases through Hyper Sigil Tapes. Stay tuned for more.
I’ve got two performances coming up this coming weekend that I’m excited about.
On Friday, September 7th, I’m playing duo with Mike Larocca, a percussionist. This is fun in and of itself, but what’s truly weird is that one of the other bands on the bill is also an accordion/drum duo. This may be an historic evening for that reason alone. The touring act is Boat Dares; Conor Perrault (of Human Flourishing) is also playing a solo set. Show is 7:00PM, Never Ending Books, New Haven, CT.
Then on Saturday, September 8th, Christopher Bousquet of American Elm and myself are opening for Paul Belbusti of Mercy Choir, who has taken a self-imposed hiatus from performances over the last year. This should be a fun show, and it’s entirely possible that Paul has whole albums worth of new material he’s written in the last year, but I’m told he’ll be playing some of the hits too. Show is 9:00 PM, at Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT.Coming up, after talking about it for awhile, I’m near to complete with preparations to launch the first releases through Hyper Sigil Tapes. Stay tuned for more.
7.09.2018
Taur Nu Fuin - Kolarbyn, and a few upcoming shows
Very pleased to announced the release of Taur Nu Fuin's Kolarbyn, an epic, well composed/realized album of dungeon synth from New Zealand artist Sean O'Kane Connelly. I recorded some accordion for the album, and it's used in a really clever, thorough way in several places on the album, alongside some really expertly 'orchestrated' synth layers. Check out the link above!
Got a couple of shows coming up this week, and throughout the rest of the month.
Thursday, July 12th - Crazy Doberman/Underwear/Cretella Matlock Paolucci - Crunch House, West Haven, CT. 8:00 PM. This will be a banger. Crazy Doberman is noise/processing/tenor sax, equal parts menacing and ambient. Underwear is semi-improvised 90s pop that is a treat to hear and see live. And this will be the first live performance of the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio, which is guitar, accordion/voice, and drums, in which a bunch of improvisers try and find their pocket.
Friday, July 13th - Allysen Callery, Birth of Flower, An Historic, New London Drone Collective. Willimantic Records, Willimantic, CT. 7:00 PM. Birth of Flower is one of my favorite bands. I have never heard Allysen or the NLDC, but I am excited to hear them both.
Saturday, July 14th - Sitting in with The Hot Club of Black Rock at Rothbard Ale and Larder, Westport, CT. Sets at 6:30 and 8:00 PM. Django-style hot jazz. My first time with this group!
Saturday July 21st - Dr. Caterwauls Featuring Anne Rhodes performing The Music of The Simpsons at the Central Library (Jamaica) branch of the Queens Library, 2:00PM (EARLY!).
Tuesday, July 24th - Dr. Caterwauls + Friends performing The Music of Nino Rota at Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
Wednesday, August 1st - Curmudgeon Corner (Anne Rhodes/Adam Matlock) on a bill with Evan Miller, Federico Balducci, and Human Flourishing. At Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
Got a couple of shows coming up this week, and throughout the rest of the month.
Thursday, July 12th - Crazy Doberman/Underwear/Cretella Matlock Paolucci - Crunch House, West Haven, CT. 8:00 PM. This will be a banger. Crazy Doberman is noise/processing/tenor sax, equal parts menacing and ambient. Underwear is semi-improvised 90s pop that is a treat to hear and see live. And this will be the first live performance of the Cretella/Matlock/Paolucci trio, which is guitar, accordion/voice, and drums, in which a bunch of improvisers try and find their pocket.
Friday, July 13th - Allysen Callery, Birth of Flower, An Historic, New London Drone Collective. Willimantic Records, Willimantic, CT. 7:00 PM. Birth of Flower is one of my favorite bands. I have never heard Allysen or the NLDC, but I am excited to hear them both.
Saturday, July 14th - Sitting in with The Hot Club of Black Rock at Rothbard Ale and Larder, Westport, CT. Sets at 6:30 and 8:00 PM. Django-style hot jazz. My first time with this group!
Saturday July 21st - Dr. Caterwauls Featuring Anne Rhodes performing The Music of The Simpsons at the Central Library (Jamaica) branch of the Queens Library, 2:00PM (EARLY!).
Tuesday, July 24th - Dr. Caterwauls + Friends performing The Music of Nino Rota at Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
Wednesday, August 1st - Curmudgeon Corner (Anne Rhodes/Adam Matlock) on a bill with Evan Miller, Federico Balducci, and Human Flourishing. At Best Video, Hamden, CT. 7:00 PM.
6.18.2018
UQC Piano Split, Vol 1.
Hi all! Next in "Things you may not have known I did because I failed to post about them anywhere but Facebook" is this split cassette of solo piano music released on Until the Quasar Cassettes. Side B is the music of the mysterious entity known as Alice Roland.
I'm not a prodigious pianist - there have only been a few times in my life when I've really regretted not doing a piano performance track in more standard classical or jazz circles. But as a teacher of the instrument who often works with students with a wide variety of interests, I find that I'm thinking about it somewhat constantly, and that even as I dive deeper into how to express myself on the accordion, I enjoy facing those same problems on the piano, especially dealing with harmony and texture and piano preparations and the like. So on the 7 compositions that make up my side of the split, I'm trying to think of the same concerns that have driven my solo accordion work of late - but since keys are the only thing the two instruments really have in common, the results are very different. I name-checked Satoko Fujii and Alice Coltrane in the credits to this release, two pianists whose voices as composers and improvisers have been extremely influential to me as I've tried to find my way.
I'm not a prodigious pianist - there have only been a few times in my life when I've really regretted not doing a piano performance track in more standard classical or jazz circles. But as a teacher of the instrument who often works with students with a wide variety of interests, I find that I'm thinking about it somewhat constantly, and that even as I dive deeper into how to express myself on the accordion, I enjoy facing those same problems on the piano, especially dealing with harmony and texture and piano preparations and the like. So on the 7 compositions that make up my side of the split, I'm trying to think of the same concerns that have driven my solo accordion work of late - but since keys are the only thing the two instruments really have in common, the results are very different. I name-checked Satoko Fujii and Alice Coltrane in the credits to this release, two pianists whose voices as composers and improvisers have been extremely influential to me as I've tried to find my way.
6.12.2018
GZARA - Dawn on Nebular Horizon
Today the album "Dawn on Nebular Horizon" by my project GZARA is released. As you may know, GZARA was my primary synth/electronics project prior to the creation of Nahadoth and my dive into the dungeon synth world, and many things that I learned while working on that music have been put into play here, including some of the same equipment. The result is two side-length ambient tracks, moving slowly through deep space, learning to breathe within a vacuum.
In other news, I am playing a solo show as An Historic next Wednesday, June 20th at Cafe Nine, in support of Lunch Duchess. Laundry Day and comedian Kendra Dawsey also perform. Doors at 8:00, Show at 9:00.
5.31.2018
Dungeon Synth
Looking back over my extremely sporadic updates of this blog, it's clear that I've not done myself any favors with regards to self promotion. I've been playing shows steadily, but feeling allergic to the work of typing, checking and retyping that info into this page here. I'm brainstorming solutions, but in the mean time:
I'm in the midst of a tour of Europe with Anthony Braxton's Zim Music ensemble. For this tour the group has consisted of Anthony Braxton on Alto, Soprano and Sopranino saxophones, Taylor Ho Bynum on Cornet, flugelhorn, trombone and pocket trumpet, Jaqueline Kerrod and Miriam Overlach on pedal harp, Jean Cook on Violin, Dan Peck on Tuba, and myself playing accordion, recorders, and singing. I am hoping to reflect on this tour further once it is concluded, but the music has been transformative, has left me quite raw, humbled, and inspired, both on the micro creative level and on the macro level of, frankly, trying to understand more clearly what the hell it is I'm doing as a musician.
For the last few years, I've worked primarily as a composer in the micro genre known as Dungeon Synth. This is connected to black metal (which has been a part of my life as a listener for nearly 20 years) and often has an extreme focus on mood and narrative, which are driving forces of most of my other work as a composer or songwriter. It's been nice to spend a lot of time going inward working on this stuff, where the responsibility in composition, performance, mixing, artwork, and release are primarily on my shoulders. I've also kept a lot of those projects secret because I'm not sure what 'legit' musicians will think of them - why they're so "in" or tonal musically, why they're sometimes so messy - but to anyone wondering why I haven't made any progress on my second opera, or done much of the traditional 'creative music' or songwriting trajectory of releasing albums under my name and touring with them, here's the reason. All of these are done primarily with 90s consumergrade FM keyboards, not even proper synths (with a few exceptions), and some include vocals. What unifies them all is a strong sense of narrative (usually present through song titles, or accompanying text or short stories) and the comfort I've gotten out of working on them obsessively.
A few notes:
-None of these are meant to be one-and-done projects, although for some I do have a fixed trajectory in mind, after which point the project will be considered concluded
-Most of them have 'rules' or specific equipment used which is meant to help distinguish them sonically (The Herbalists is all recorded live with no overdubs, for the most part, whereas Mystal Tree uses primarily higher fidelity software VSTs as opposed to live keyboards; others are more easily distinguished by their narrative focus, like Arthurian mythology or, yes, Harry Potter's lore.)
-I take them all extremely seriously and I stand by them, even if I've been a little afraid to do so in the past.
Dungeon Synth projects:
Nahadoth: http://nahadoth.bandcamp.com
Mystal Tree: http://MystalTree.bandcamp.com
The Herbalists: http://theherbalists.bandcamp.com
Erszébet: http://Erszebet.bandcamp.com
Pendragon: http://pendragonking.bandcamp.com
Conqueror's Mourn: http://conquerorsmourn.bandcamp.com
Dispell: http://dispell.bandcamp.com
Collaborative: (With Daithi O Mathuna of the project Argonath)jjj
Cenobite: http://Cenobitesynth.bandcamp.com
Keyboard based Black Metal:
AOS: http://aoszos.bandcamp.com
I'm still active with my songwriting project An Historic, and with the experimental folk/jazz group Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps, still trying to compose more formally, and working as an improviser with a wonderful core group of collaborators like Anne Rhodes, Chris Cretella, Brian Slattery, and Michael Paolucci. I've even got another Ambient record coming out under the name GZARA, which has been defunct for a few years. But in those moments when I find myself somehow stuck in working on a song or a composition, or overwhelmed with scheduling recording sessions or rehearsals, I can do this work and feel like I'm still engaging as a musician and composer, even in isolation. I hope if you've like any of my other music that you'll consider listening to any one of these projects here. It's still me.
I'm in the midst of a tour of Europe with Anthony Braxton's Zim Music ensemble. For this tour the group has consisted of Anthony Braxton on Alto, Soprano and Sopranino saxophones, Taylor Ho Bynum on Cornet, flugelhorn, trombone and pocket trumpet, Jaqueline Kerrod and Miriam Overlach on pedal harp, Jean Cook on Violin, Dan Peck on Tuba, and myself playing accordion, recorders, and singing. I am hoping to reflect on this tour further once it is concluded, but the music has been transformative, has left me quite raw, humbled, and inspired, both on the micro creative level and on the macro level of, frankly, trying to understand more clearly what the hell it is I'm doing as a musician.
For the last few years, I've worked primarily as a composer in the micro genre known as Dungeon Synth. This is connected to black metal (which has been a part of my life as a listener for nearly 20 years) and often has an extreme focus on mood and narrative, which are driving forces of most of my other work as a composer or songwriter. It's been nice to spend a lot of time going inward working on this stuff, where the responsibility in composition, performance, mixing, artwork, and release are primarily on my shoulders. I've also kept a lot of those projects secret because I'm not sure what 'legit' musicians will think of them - why they're so "in" or tonal musically, why they're sometimes so messy - but to anyone wondering why I haven't made any progress on my second opera, or done much of the traditional 'creative music' or songwriting trajectory of releasing albums under my name and touring with them, here's the reason. All of these are done primarily with 90s consumergrade FM keyboards, not even proper synths (with a few exceptions), and some include vocals. What unifies them all is a strong sense of narrative (usually present through song titles, or accompanying text or short stories) and the comfort I've gotten out of working on them obsessively.
A few notes:
-None of these are meant to be one-and-done projects, although for some I do have a fixed trajectory in mind, after which point the project will be considered concluded
-Most of them have 'rules' or specific equipment used which is meant to help distinguish them sonically (The Herbalists is all recorded live with no overdubs, for the most part, whereas Mystal Tree uses primarily higher fidelity software VSTs as opposed to live keyboards; others are more easily distinguished by their narrative focus, like Arthurian mythology or, yes, Harry Potter's lore.)
-I take them all extremely seriously and I stand by them, even if I've been a little afraid to do so in the past.
Dungeon Synth projects:
Nahadoth: http://nahadoth.bandcamp.com
Mystal Tree: http://MystalTree.bandcamp.com
The Herbalists: http://theherbalists.bandcamp.com
Erszébet: http://Erszebet.bandcamp.com
Pendragon: http://pendragonking.bandcamp.com
Conqueror's Mourn: http://conquerorsmourn.bandcamp.com
Dispell: http://dispell.bandcamp.com
Collaborative: (With Daithi O Mathuna of the project Argonath)jjj
Cenobite: http://Cenobitesynth.bandcamp.com
Keyboard based Black Metal:
AOS: http://aoszos.bandcamp.com
I'm still active with my songwriting project An Historic, and with the experimental folk/jazz group Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps, still trying to compose more formally, and working as an improviser with a wonderful core group of collaborators like Anne Rhodes, Chris Cretella, Brian Slattery, and Michael Paolucci. I've even got another Ambient record coming out under the name GZARA, which has been defunct for a few years. But in those moments when I find myself somehow stuck in working on a song or a composition, or overwhelmed with scheduling recording sessions or rehearsals, I can do this work and feel like I'm still engaging as a musician and composer, even in isolation. I hope if you've like any of my other music that you'll consider listening to any one of these projects here. It's still me.
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