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.

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.

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.

Shows in May/Early June

Thursday, 5/18 (ToNIGHT!) Farewell to Orkestar BAM, with The Harris Brothers Balkan Band. (I play in both.) Balkan Music and dancing at 1253/Whitneyville Cultural Commons. Doors at 7:00, Dance lesson at 7:30, show at 8:00.

Saturday, 5/20 - An Historic at Koffee? Playing a bunch of originals, folk tunes and a few covers. 8:00 PM.

Thursday, 5/25 - Dr. Caterwauls plays the Music of Twin Peaks. Best Video, Hamden, 7:30.

Monday, June 5 - singing Ingrid Laubock's Vogelfrei at Moers Festival, Moers, Germany. 4:12 PM.

Saturday, June 10th - Folk Dance/Fundraising Party with The Harris Brothers Balkan Band and many others, Shelburne Falls, MA. Time TBA

Sunday, June 11th - An Historic, with Diane Cluck, Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT. 3:00 PM.

Wednesday, June 14th - Dr. Caterwauls, with The Suitcase Junket. Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT. 8:00 PM

It's plain to see

I think I will have some difficulty maintaining this website to the standard I WANT it to be at, so as of this moment I'm declaring that the front page will be where all the info is. Take a look at the sidebar to the right hand side for upcoming performances, and check this space for details about some of those performances, and feel free to contact me if you have any questions about things not covered in those spaces:

One major bit of news is that I have joined the Harris Brothers' Balkan Band as their accordionist. I really enjoy digging into Balkan music in a way that connects with dancing, which is one of the specialties of the brothers, and I have loved every show I've played with them so far.

Upcoming shows:

3/30/17 - Dr. Caterwauls Cadre of Clairvoyant Claptraps open for the Lost Bayou Ramblers. Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT, 8:00 PM. 
We are SO stoked to be opening for these folks again. The last time I saw them, it was in the proximity of John Coltrane's birthday, and they segued from a Cajun fiddle tune into a blistering rendition of A Love Supreme. It was glorious.

4/2/17 - An Historic plays at The Sunday Buzz @ Cafe Nine. This is a huge show going from Noon to Midnight, and is a benefit for a local Soup Kitchen. I'm on at 2:30 PM, for half an hour.

4/6/17 - Elm Fiction "Score" CD release at Best Video, 7:00 PM. Cretella/Paolucci duo opens. Really excited for this show, featuring a sub-grouping of the New Haven Improvisers Collective. We're performing a piece of mine and of drummer Tom Hogan's from the album, as well as new arrangements of works by David Bowie, Charles Mingus, Olivier Messaien and Tom Waits.

4/8/17 - House Party. I'm playing with Orkestar BAM and the Yale Klezmer Band. more info TBA.

4/9/17 - Always on Sunday International Folk Dance, with The Harris Brothers Balkan Band! Wethersfield, CT. 7-10PM.

4/15/17 - Yale Turkish Student Union Party @ GPCSY Bar, with Orkestar BAM. New Haven, CT. Time TBA.

4/29/17 - Anthony Braxton Septet. Firehouse 12, New Haven CT. 8:30 PM and 10:00 PM.

5/4/17 - Kindred Queer album release show, with Dr. Caterwauls. Cafe Nine, New Haven, CT. 9:00 PM.

Recent Press and Collaborations

Hello! Hope everyone reading is having a great summer. I wanted to share some info about some press coverage I've recently gotten about my solo album Lungfiddle, and Broadcloth's album In Stitches.

Here's a piece from the Hartford Courant about Lungfiddle and my music.

Here's a review of Lungfiddle from the New Haven Independent.

And below is a review from the NYC Jazz Record, which called it "a stunning achievement" in their June 2016 issue.

A limited run of "Lungfiddle" CDs, as well as an album stream, is available through my Bandcamp page! And the digital audio is available for purchase on iTunes and Amazon.

The NYC Jazz Record also reviewed Broadcloth's In Stitches in their May 2016 issue, calling the album "exacting, wry, and massive - well worth tuning an ear towards."

I also wanted to mention a few recent collaborations. I provided some keyboards for Demon Chauffeur's debut EP, "Spiritism". I also provided accordion, viola and backing vox for two tracks on Clara Engel's EP "Visitors are Allowed One Kiss". Finally, I provided instrumental tracks for two top secret covers by Jordaan Mason, forthcoming. These will be released on Jordaan's Bandcamp page in August!

Finally, take a look over at the sidebar for another seasonal update of my current performance schedule. Missed a couple early in July, but those will be added retroactively to the performance page. Hope to see you at an upcoming one! I'm very excited for the Caterwaul's night of music by Ennio Morricone, coming up July 27th at Best Video, in particular!

Adam Matlock - Lungfiddle released today via Off - Record label.

Hello everyone! My solo accordion album "Lungfiddle" has released today through Off Record Label. It is available today through various digital outlets including Spotify, iTunes, Google Play and CD Baby (which will be embedded below.) The player above links to all these outlets. Just a reminder that I will be releasing CDs of this material in a few weeks - once again, stay tuned for details.